I hear a sense of depth in that recording that I don't hear in live performances, and I don't like that, although a lot of people do as the success of Mercury reissues will attest.

Much of the blur that ddy refers to is the blur that I hear in the hall live; I do not hear pinpoint Telarc-style imaging when I am actually seated in the hall listening.

This is why ddy and I disagree but it's a reasonable disagreement. If we went to a concert together we'd probably disagree on where to sit. You can pick either side or no side or a third side if you think it's aesthetically valid for the piece you're working on.
--scott

I think with that acoustics, you’ll probably end up placing the microphones quite close to the musicians, APEs will give you a very bright sound in that scenario. To be honest, I’ve never been a great fan of APEs with none of my omnis, even with large orchestras, it just sounds weird to me

3 o 4 warm omni, like MKH20, throughout orchestra, in order to have blend and musicality, duduk with 2x Shure SM57 (so you can play in post to paste them onto the orchestra background) and two cardioid (Neumann, Schoeps).
Vache Sharafyan is a great duduk player, and the duduk is one of the most beautiful instruments in the world. Its voice can be like a human's, the SM57 reproduces its formants very clearly. Alternatively I would also consider an AT5045.
Don't look for definition from the orchestra behind the soloists, but a warm and enveloping sound, small ensembles are often unbearable, with instruments that are too localized and distracting. Make the duduk and the violin sing.

Thanks for the input. We start tomorrow.

Vache Sharafyan is the composer, duduk master who will be performing is Arsen Petrosyan.

Yes, duduk is beautiful, I first heard it played by Djivan Gasparyan on "Passion" soundtrack, before it became ubiquitous in h'wood scores.
I got many traditional albums, I also love Gurdjieff Ensemble.

They will have to "make it sing", I will have to try not to screw up... 😀 But both, the violinist and the duduk player are great, that leaves one weak link... 😀😀

Current "cunning plan" is - Big AB of M221s, "small AB" omnis MKH20 closer to orchestra, behind the soloists, MkH30 on soloists - 1 for each (they will be in Big AB and orcestra AB anyway - their ambience and "warmth"...), CM3s and MKH40s as spots (for options)...

It turned out really great. Can't share it obviously... when it's released, I'll link.

The setup that I used in the end was: small AB MKH20 omnis in front of both orchestra and soloists, a bit lower (ca.2,7m) for an all embracing warm sound with nice capture of soloists, big AB of M221s for a really nice spacious ambience and depth and more silky strings, MD441 close on duduk, RB500 on violin (I had Benchmark Pre420 on loan and at 60db gain no noise problem even with this lowly ribbon - a really useful cheap mic...), MKH40s on 1st violins and violas, and one on the floor for double bass, CM3s for 2nd violins and cellos... cellos on risers.

The hall turned out really lovely sounding with the added curtains, perfect for chamber music, we even had to uncover the mirrors a bit or it was too dry...

All in all - very happy with it all. A nice fat and warm, yet clear and dynamic sound.

That Benchmark is an amazing pre (gets really hot, though) and so is the Lake People... revelations...