The return of great opera to the marvellous Teatro della Fortuna, designed in far-off 1845 by architect Luigi Poletti and the direction by the great Luciano Pavarotti, who enthusiastically accepted the invitation from Fano Town Council, making it a high profile event on the international opera scenario, greeted with great enthusiasm by opera fans and music critics.

The theatre's dimensions, with a limited depth compared to the size of the stage, the height of the set (7 metres) and the presence of numerous "legs" (framing side drapes), caused a series of technical limits as far as lighting was concerned. These were overcome by using fixtures with decidedly innovative features compared with those normally used in the theatre and for opera.

The choice of La Boh¸me's lighting designer, Jean Paul Carradori, fell on SGM's new SGM's Palco 3 LED colour changers and Giotto Profile 400 moving head fixtures.

"Lighting La Boheme at Teatro la Fortuna was no easy job," admits lighting designer Jean Paul Carradori. "SGM's Palco and Giotto Profile units offered a solution that eventually turned out to be a winner. The use of automated fixtures enabled us to do a lot of work with relatively few fixtures - we just didn't have the space to mount any more. Thanks to their very low noise level, the Profiles gave no problems at all.

I personally tend to use automated or high-tech fixtures, but always combine them with traditional or non-conventional lighting instruments. Every type of light has unique characteristics, which must be exploited creatively. I don't tend to have any prejudices - in fact, I often suggest alternatives to the various directors.

I used 128 conventional fixtures - Dominos, PC 2000, par 64 and profile spots, rows of neon tubes, 'hanging lamps', six Giotto Profile, six Palco 3 and two 2500W discharge followspots.