Anyone here recorded a performance of this?

Mine will be full orchestra, full choir, children's choir and four soloists. I will have all set ups at my disposal but I really don't want to over-complicate my 2-mix on the day.

I'd love thoughts and stage plots if anyone has anything.

Thanks.

D.

I've only recorded it once, and really got burned on the soloists. In rehearsal, they stood just to the L and R of the podium, and got picked up just fine on the mains. But for some strange reason in the performance they stood waaay stage left!

Also, on the day, I wasn't allowed in in time enough to mic the choir, and that choir wasn't able to project sufficiently without spots, so plan on that, as I'm sure you were.

Dynamics are extreme, and my recording benefited a good deal from a little parallel compression.

If you've ever recorded Mahler 2, the setup is very similar. Just make sure you know ahead of time if the soloists will be down by the conductor, or back in front of the choir (as is sometimes done with Mahler 2).

_______

It's a very fun piece to record.

Off...I'd have to double check.

I want to say have a symphony recording of it. But I'm not 100% sure. I know I've done it as a ballet a couple of times as it was one of our Ballet's favored pieces to do for several years. But I didn't do a live recording of their performances. (other than a 2-tack/video archival recording)

Definitely communicate with the conductor and soloists about the right place they should stand. If not in front of the orchestra, they should at least have a designated area in front of the choir to move to. If it is a big enough choir you may not need choir spots, it's all full sections and repetitive tuttis in that piece. I usually stave off a plan until I know the full makeup of the ensemble. God forbid it is a 15 person orchestra and 150 person choir or visa-versa.

Try to attend a rehearsal (ideally in the actual concert venue) if you can.

Even a cellphone rehearsal video taken from the audience seating area will give you a reasonable audio snapshot of how the various sub-groups gel-together (or fail to !)…it will inform your decision making about which spot/area mics, if any, are required to supplement your main pair.

My hazy memory from having recorded it around 15 years ago is that the dynamic contrasts are extreme, and it lends itself very well to having submix or bus control over the various components, particularly chorus and percussion.. and hard limiters (or generous gain margins) will come in handy on these stems too. It’s very shock-rock at the extremes…think The Clash meets Wagner/Mahler, a bumpy voyage !

Good luck on stepping up to the plate and attempting a 2 mix….it’s a ‘sort the men from the boys’ test, and ddy’s advice below is on the money !

There’s plenty of boot camp rehearsal potential in the various YouTube versions….if you can survive the opening 3 minutes without maxxing out your headroom, the remainder will be plain sailing !

quite a popular composition, although mainly with amateur orchestras/choirs (at least over here).

since percussion plays a very important role, i'd favour using a coincident main mic system on the orchestra (and i wouldn't even try getting both the orchestra and choir with just the mains)...