Measurement of objective criteria for performers in the ‘‘Teatro di San Carlo’’ opera house Free

In the last two decades some attention has been paid to the acoustics for performers in concert halls. The findings of these studies have shed some light on the structure of the sound field preferred for the ensemble. With respect to a concert hall, the performing condition is quite different in an opera house. Usually, the problems are related to: (a) the balance between singer(s) and the orchestra in the pit; (b) the ease of singing; (c) the ensemble of singers; (d) the ensemble of instrumentalists. To the knowledge of the authors no objective criterion has been suggested yet for (a). Some criteria are reported for the ensemble of instrumentalists (d). Useful information for (b) and (c) is reported in [A. H. Marshall and J. Meyer, Acustica 58, 130–140 (1985)]. Although well aware of the lack of accepted objective criteria, which should be well correlated with subjective criteria for the above‐mentioned topics, these authors report the results of measurements carried out in the ‘‘Teatro di San Carlo’’ in the aim of quantifying objectively some of the items (a)–(d). In particular, a criterion is suggested that is related to the comfort of singers on the basis of the study of Marshall and Meyer.