AV Stumpfl, Austrian award-winning creator of mobile and installation projection screens, multi-display and show control systems, has announced that its PIXERA media server was chosen to support a new immersive experience about the life and work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna, Austria.
The composer’s musical legacy has been brought together with cutting-edge AV technology to create a new work of art, designed to appeal to audiences both young and old, at the very spot where Mozart was born in 1756.
“MYTHOS MOZART connects tradition with modernity, art and music, creativity with technology and creates a new space for innovation and culture to honour Mozart in a way that’s never been seen before,” says MYTHOS MOZART managing director Hans Gasser.
High-tech experience
With five different rooms each offering a unique access point to Mozart’s work and his legacy, the exhibition covers an area of over 1,500 square metres in the same location where the composer was born, where he spent the last year of his life, and where he created iconic pieces such as The Magic Flute. The STEFFL department store now sits at this location.
Prior to entering the rooms, and with tickets and QR codes in hand, guests can enjoy a photo opportunity at the start of the immersive audio-visual experience. Within two seconds, the photos are turned into digital 3D portraits, which can wink back at the visitor and jump from one picture frame to the next.
The first room, REQUIEM – MOZART’S DEATH, was created by British-German designer Moritz Waldemeyer and is filled with 1,500 candles. Next, guests step into VIENNA 1791 – MOZART’S CITY which features a tour through historical Vienna in the form of 360° projections, combining cityscapes with a balloon ride. Then, in the third room, WORLD MUSIC – MOZART‘S LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, they can select an instrument and accompany Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik.
The fourth room, GENIUS – MOZART COMPOSING, takes guests into Mozart’s creative mind in the form of thousands of synaptic connections framed by light and music. Finally, MAGIC FLUTE – MOZART FOREVER presents fantastical imagery created by AI, from new media artist Refik Anadol.
Immersive soundscapes
The experience’s soundscape was composed and re-arranged by Walter Werzowa, MYTHOS MOZART’s musical director, and recorded by students of the mdw – the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. World-renowned artists, such as Rolando Villazón, Elise Caluwaerts and Alexey Igudesman act as project ambassadors, sharing both the fascination for Mozart and MYTHOS MOZART’s innovative approach to making his work accessible to a new audience.
Preparations started in 2019, bringing together artistic and technical know-how. Vienna-based music and digital media expert Christoph Widauer came up with the overall concept and structure, as well as compiling the content. Meanwhile, PKE Electronics GmbH was appointed as the technical service provider and installer for the exhibition, with Martin Nikendei as the project manager.
In order to provide the best possible sound quality, 300 loudspeakers were installed on the ceiling, on the walls, and at ground level, many of which were from audio manufacturer QSC. QSC power amplifiers also supported the setup and received their signals via QLan from two QSC Core 510i audio processors. Each loudspeaker receives a discrete signal.
MYTHOS MOZART uses multiple main audio sources in the form of six Mac Minis with QLab software, controlled via the general AV setup in order to start the right audio tracks at the right time.
Two of the exhibition rooms feature active acoustics from Amadeus Acoustic. To meet the requirements of the exhibition rooms, 46 DPA microphones were used to make the room acoustics, for example, appear authentically church-like. PIXERA media server systems from AV Stumpfl were employed as the main video playback system. A total of eight PIXERA two and three PIXERA one servers were installed to reliably handle the large amount of video content and data.
Choosing the right technology
Speaking about the use of PIXERA, Nikendei says: “We do ask a lot of the servers, since our content updates can be rather large. My team and myself like the general interface philosophy very much; it is an intuitive and very reliable system.”
AV Stumpfl GmbH managing director Tobias Stumpfl adds: “To be able to contribute to the successful realisation of an exhibition with such a quintessentially Austrian topic is particularly wonderful for an Austrian family business like ours.
“In our family, music has always played an important role. My mother plays the cello in an orchestra, my father plays the piano and is an organist, and my sister is a violin maker and also plays the cello. During my youth, I learned to play the violin, but only play the piano these days. To be able to make Mozart’s legacy come to life with PIXERA is a great honour.”
PKE also selected Epson products for the projection, becoming the first European company to use EB-PU2216B laser projectors as part of an installation project. Mainly ultra-short-throw (UST) lenses were used, as well as some standard focal lengths. Several Samsung monitors were also used in the realisation of the exhibition.
Edvision and ITD specified a total of 23 open-frame monitors of varying sizes between 21” and 55”, which were used for the ‘avatar wall’ as part of the first experience area. The video transmission was implemented by using CYP HDBaseT-transmitters which can each transmit 4K content. 20 Leia LumePads were used for the creation of the interactive music station, with Ultraleap 3Di tracking cameras as part of the control solution. The general system control was created and programmed by PKE via a Linux computer.
Thanks to over 64TB worth of NAS storage capacity guests can download their own unique tour content, like the Kleine Nachtmusik from the WORLD MUSIC room.
“We hope that this wonderful exhibition will help people from all over the world to discover and explore the myth that is Mozart in manifold ways. Mozart in Vienna with cutting-edge technology Made in Austria is a dream come true for us as an Austrian manufacturer,” says Stumpfl global marketing advisor Hans Christian Stucken.
Earlier this year, AV Stumpfl helped Hong Kong Science Museum to stage its latest pre-history exhibition, which features unique specimens such as a fully intact Spinosaurus skeleton.
Photo credit: MYTHOS MOZART © Marcus Deak
