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MELODRAMA

COPENHAGEN PHIL

In Melodrama #1, a pioneering collaboration between Copenhagen Phil and visual designer Astrid Steiner, the stage becomes an extension of Antonín Dvořák’s New World Symphony. This production transforms the concert hall into a fully immersive visual experience, where the interplay of projection, light, and digital scenography creates a seamless fusion of music and storytelling.

The Digital Stage: A Multi-Layered Canvas

At the heart of the production’s scenography is a 12x4m curved LED wall, serving as a dynamic backdrop that anchors the narrative and visual elements. Complementing this are two 5m-tall holographic screens (5m height x 3m width) positioned at key vantage points on stage. These holographic projections extend the visual storytelling beyond the confines of the LED surface, enveloping the performers in an atmospheric world of filmic imagery.

One of the main challenges was integrating this intricate video set-up into a highly confined stage space—a space that also had to accommodate a full-sized orchestra and additional live performers. This made technical planning and spatial choreography absolutely crucial to ensure seamless execution without obstructing sight-lines or interfering with performance flow.

The Danish studio Vertigo played a key role in the production and pre-production process, developing an Unreal Engine-based pre-visualisation tool that simulated the entire set-up—including the holographic projections, LED wall, and lighting design. This allowed for detailed choreography of the show’s visual sequences before moving into full-scale implementation. Their team also fabricated the PepperScrim-based holographic screens, ensuring a solution that fit seamlessly into the stage design with a minimal footprint.

Synchronising Performance and Projection

The interplay between live performers and projections creates the illusion of direct interaction with the visuals. Key moments include:

Environmental Transformations – Performers appear to stand in a downpour, as digital rain cascades around them.

Cinematic Space Expansion – Silhouetted figures traverse the screens in front of real life performers, extending the stage’s depth beyond its physical limits.

Organic Motion Graphics – The climactic finale visualises the creation of a ‘new human’ through a growing mycelium network, dynamically expanding across all three projection surfaces.

The combination of high-resolution LED visuals, PepperScrim projections, and lighting design enabled a rich layering of digital and physical performance.