Lawo Mixing Consoles for Concert de Paris
France’s National Day on 14 July is marked by numerous events across the country. For the 13th edition of the Concert de Paris, Lawo once again provided the IP-based audio infrastructure, including three mc²56 audio production consoles, meeting the live sound and broadcast requirements of the French public broadcasters and the Eurovision network. This AoIP setup delivered impeccable audio quality to more than 100,000 attendees on site and millions of listeners and viewers worldwide.
Following the exceptional 2024 edition, which featured the arrival of the Olympic flame at the forecourt of the Hôtel de Ville, the traditional Concert de Paris returned to its iconic location at the foot of the Eiffel Tower on the Champ de Mars. For the public address system, Lawo’s advanced audio infrastructure was expertly operated by a team from Radio France, led by Christophe Lukaszewski. At front-of-house position (FOH), Nadège Antonini handled the orchestral mix and FOH output using a 48-fader mc²56 console, while Stéphane Thouvenin managed the soloists and choirs on a 32-fader desk.
Stage monitoring was skillfully managed by Tahar Boukhlifa and Charles Bouticourt. They operated a 32-fader mc²56 with a 16-fader extender in a two-operator configuration with two separate control surfaces, ensuring precise monitoring throughout the performance. The setup included a redundant pair of A__UHD Core audio engines shared among the three consoles, with a redundant RAVENNA network integrating FOH and stage. A central HOME management cluster connected, managed, and secured all aspects of this live production environment.
Radio France also deployed an OB truck equipped with an mc²66 MkII console to produce the audio clean feed for French radio and television, as well as for the Eurovision network. Laurent Fracchia was responsible for the broadcast mix in the OB truck (Régie 5).
The evening was broadcast live on France 2 and france.tv, and simulcast by EBU-Eurovision in over ten countries, making it one of the world’s largest classical music events. A large audience gathered on the Champ de Mars to attend the performances by the Orchestre National de France, the Chœur and Maîtrise de Radio France, conducted by Cristian Măcelaru, alongside internationally renowned opera singers and soloists including Aida Garifullina (soprano), Julie Fuchs (soprano), Bruno de Sá (sopranist), Rihab Chaieb (mezzo-soprano), Benjamin Bernheim (tenor), Florian Sempey (baritone), Gautier Capuçon (cello), Dom La Nena (cello), Bomsori Kim (violin), Bohdan Luts (violin), and Saehyun Kim (piano).
As is tradition, the concert was immediately followed by a fireworks display from the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro gardens. The event reached 2.9 million viewers on France 2 and many more on France Inter radio. It was broadcast live in numerous countries via the Euroradio and Eurovision networks.