Between 2010 and 2017, the German capital’s oldest opera house, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, undertook a complete renovation of its building and stage equipment. It chose Panthea to design and implement an all-new surtitling system, including the development of a specialised opera surtitling software, now known as [S] Opera Edition.
Responding to a key stipulation in the call for tender, Panthea centred its proposal on the development of a software tailored to the structure and workflows of the Staatsoper’s surtitling teams. In particular, the opera house requested an integration of all its surtitles with a digitized version of each score. The resulting technology, now in operation, was informed by an ongoing dialogue with its users and is continually being optimised to meet their needs.
Panthea also supplied and commissioned the venue’s two LED surtitling screens, and designed a specialised workspace for its surtitle operators. In this, we sought to work around the architectural constraints of the Staatsoper, a listed historic building: surtitlers work neither in the auditorium nor from a control room with a direct view of the stage, but from a separate viewing room where performances are livestreamed to them exclusively using audiovisual equipment.
Implementing these plans required us to work closely with various departments at the Staatsoper, particularly its sound, lighting, and video teams, as well as with other companies involved in the project and the coordinating engineering firm.
Since our original tender, Panthea has continued to support and maintain the Staatsoper’s surtitling system, and to assist its teams on an ad hoc basis, particularly during live-subtitled broadcasts of the open-air concerts that conclude the opera season.
Services provided by Panthea
- Spectitular [S] Opera Edition software
- LED screens
- Training, maintenance, and support
