Luciano Pavarotti recently celebrated the 10th edition of his annual Pavarotti & Friends charity concert by gathering a star-studded cast in his hometown of Modena, Italy. The event, the proceeds of which were donated to aid Angolan children, was telecast nationwide in prime time by RAI, the national Italian broadcasting company. Along with solo performances by Sting, Lou Reed, Grace Jones, James Brown, Cuba's charismatic Augusto Enriquez and his Mambo Band; Italian chart-toppers Zucchero, Andrea Bocelli, Raf and Elisa also performed duets with the world-renowned tenor. Many of the performances included accompaniment by a 70-piece orchestra and a children's choir.

For the second successive year, the Mackie HDR24/96 was chosen to record and broadcast the event. "These units played a fundamental role in the broadcast sound," explained Pavarotti's sound engineer John Pellowe, who was mixing the orchestra and choir for the occasion. "In terms of how well the equipment worked, it was the best Pavarotti & Friends we've done. This is the second time we've used the HDR 24/96 recorders and the sound was impeccable once again."

Pellowe continued: "Mackie also deserves huge credit for the support they provided." Mackie's recording products specialist, Sandro Chinellato, was on hand before and during the high-profile event to assist with the configuration and operation of the hard disk recorders. "Thanks to the HDR24/96 audio quality was guaranteed," echoed Alberto ‘The Mind’ Butturini, who was in charge of artist and house band mixing. "In fact, I'd already used this modus operandi with Elisa, who I'll be touring with later this year. Once again the Mackie recorders ensured a perfect hitch-free operation."

(Lee Baldock)


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