Figaro Systems
Encyclopedia
Figaro Systems, Inc. is an American company that provides seatback and wireless
titling software and system installations to opera houses and other music performance venues worldwide. The company is based in Santa Fe
, New Mexico. It was established in 1993
by Patrick Markle, Geoff Webb, and Ron Erkman and was the first company to provide assistive technology
that enables individualized, simultaneous, multi-lingual dialogue
and libretto
-reading for audiences.
, Geoffrey Webb, Design Engineer for the Metropolitan Opera House
, Lincoln Center, New York
, and Ronald Erkman, then a technician for the Met
. At that time, opera houses had two options for the display of libretto and dialogue subtitles: projection onto a large screen above the stage or onto smaller screens throughout the theatre. The translation, moreover, was in a single language.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
had recently been enacted; Markle was trying to solve the problem of venues' lack of accessibility to patrons with disabilities, including the profoundly deaf. Markle, Webb, and Erkman devised the first prototype
of a personal seatback titling device. John Crosby of the Santa Fe Opera saw its potential for opera patrons. Markle, Webb, and Erkman were further reinforced by their understanding of technology’s role in remediating the physical barriers people encounter, worldwide, which frustrate or prevent their access to the visual performing arts.
Markle, Webb, and Erkman applied for and were granted patent
s for their invention.
Philanthropist and investor Alberto Vilar
counted Figaro Systems among the companies in which he was a majority shareholder. He donated the company's electronic libretto
system to European venues including The Royal Opera House
in London
, The La Scala's Teatro degli Arcimboldi
opera houses in Milan, Italy, The Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain, and The Wiener Staatsoper in Wien
, Austria
.Consequences of his failures to pay promised donations most of these theatres lost a lot of money.
In 2005 the Met charged the New Mexico company with unlawfully using its name in advertising promoting its " ' Simultext ' system which defendant claims can display a simultaneous translation of an opera as it occurs on a stage and that defendant represented that its system is installed at the Met."
, electronic libretto
systems, opera supertitles, projected titles, and libretto translations.
Opera venues have utilized the system to display librettos in English
, French
, German
, Italian
, Japanese
, Mandarin, Russian
, and Spanish
, although the software enables the reading of the libretto in any written language
. Translation is provided by one screen and delivery system per person.
Typically, but not in all cases, the system is permanently installed along the backs of rows of seats. Each screen is positioned so that the text is clearly visible to each user. The displays were initially available in vacuum fluorescent display
, (VFD
) and, in 2000, liquid crystal display
, (LCD) was used. In 2004 the displays became available with organic light-emitting diode
, (OLED) screens. Each type of display provides the same text information and program annotation on eight channels simultaneously, may be turned off by the user, and is user-operated with a single button. The software is capable of supporting venues’ existing systems as well as Figaro Systems' "Simultext" system. The software enables cueing of each line as it is sung, and it appears instantly on the screen.
The company builds fully modular systems including its wireless
handheld screens for users who cannot use seatback systems, for example people in wheelchair
s, who may be viewing the opera in areas lacking seatback viewing, or people with compromised eyesight.
in Denver
, Colorado, The Santa Fe Opera in Santa Fe, The Brooklyn Academy of Music
, the Metropolitan Opera
, Lincoln Center, New York, the Met
(there called "MetTitles"), the Roy E. Disney
Theatre in Albuquerque's National Hispanic Cultural Center
, McCaw Hall
in Seattle Washington, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri, the Des Moines Metro Opera
in Des Moines
, Iowa and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Missouri.
In the UK and Europe, the systems have been installed in venues including the Royal Opera House
in London, the Teatro alla Scala and La Scala's Teatro degli Arcimboldi
opera houses in Milan, Italy, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain, and the Wiener Staatsoper in Wien
, Austria
.
Laboratories’ Technology Commercialization Award for its Simultext system.
In 2008, the company’s software was one of four finalists for the Excellence Award for Commercial Software awarded by the New Mexico Information Technology and Software Association.
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
titling software and system installations to opera houses and other music performance venues worldwide. The company is based in Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, New Mexico. It was established in 1993
by Patrick Markle, Geoff Webb, and Ron Erkman and was the first company to provide assistive technology
Assistive technology
Assistive technology or adaptive technology is an umbrella term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and also includes the process used in selecting, locating, and using them...
that enables individualized, simultaneous, multi-lingual dialogue
Dialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
and libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
-reading for audiences.
History
Figaro Systems grew out of a conversation in 1992 among three opera colleagues: Patrick Markle, at that time Technical Director of the Santa Fe OperaSanta Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
, Geoffrey Webb, Design Engineer for the Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)
The Metropolitan Opera House is an opera house located on Broadway at Lincoln Square in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the theater opened in 1966. It replaced the former Metropolitan Opera House at Broadway and 39th St...
, Lincoln Center, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and Ronald Erkman, then a technician for the Met
Met
-In the arts:* Metropolitan Opera in Manhattan, New York* Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, New York* Various buildings known as the Metropolitan Opera House* The Metropolitan Ensemble Theater in Kansas City, Missouri-In computing and the Internet:...
. At that time, opera houses had two options for the display of libretto and dialogue subtitles: projection onto a large screen above the stage or onto smaller screens throughout the theatre. The translation, moreover, was in a single language.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a law that was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1990. It was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H. W. Bush, and later amended with changes effective January 1, 2009....
had recently been enacted; Markle was trying to solve the problem of venues' lack of accessibility to patrons with disabilities, including the profoundly deaf. Markle, Webb, and Erkman devised the first prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
of a personal seatback titling device. John Crosby of the Santa Fe Opera saw its potential for opera patrons. Markle, Webb, and Erkman were further reinforced by their understanding of technology’s role in remediating the physical barriers people encounter, worldwide, which frustrate or prevent their access to the visual performing arts.
Markle, Webb, and Erkman applied for and were granted patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s for their invention.
Philanthropist and investor Alberto Vilar
Alberto Vilar
Alberto Vilar , a.k.a., Albert Vilar, is a Cuban-American investor and philanthropist from West Orange, NJ, particularly known as a patron of opera. He was tried and convicted in November 2008 on charges of money laundering, investment advisor fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud,...
counted Figaro Systems among the companies in which he was a majority shareholder. He donated the company's electronic libretto
Electronic libretto
The Electronic libretto system is used primarily in opera houses and is a device which presents translations of lyrics into an audience's language or transcribes lyrics that may be difficult to understand in the sung form....
system to European venues including The Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, The La Scala's Teatro degli Arcimboldi
Teatro degli Arcimboldi
The Teatro degli Arcimboldi is a theatre and opera house in Milan which was built over a twenty-seven month period in anticipation of the closure and subsequent nearly three-year long renovation of Milan's La Scala opera house in December 2001...
opera houses in Milan, Italy, The Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain, and The Wiener Staatsoper in Wien
Wien
Wien is the German language name for Vienna, the city and federal state in Austria.* Wien , in Vienna, Austria* Theater an der Wien, a theater in Vienna located at the former river WienWien may also refer to:...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.Consequences of his failures to pay promised donations most of these theatres lost a lot of money.
In 2005 the Met charged the New Mexico company with unlawfully using its name in advertising promoting its " ' Simultext ' system which defendant claims can display a simultaneous translation of an opera as it occurs on a stage and that defendant represented that its system is installed at the Met."
Products and technology
The company’s products are known variously as seat back titles, surtitlesSurtitles
Surtitles, also known as supertitles, are translated or transcribed lyrics/dialogue projected above a stage or displayed on a screen, commonly used in opera or other musical performances. The word "surtitle" comes from the French language "sur", meaning "over" or "on", and the English language word...
, electronic libretto
Electronic libretto
The Electronic libretto system is used primarily in opera houses and is a device which presents translations of lyrics into an audience's language or transcribes lyrics that may be difficult to understand in the sung form....
systems, opera supertitles, projected titles, and libretto translations.
Opera venues have utilized the system to display librettos in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Mandarin, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, although the software enables the reading of the libretto in any written language
Written language
A written language is the representation of a language by means of a writing system. Written language is an invention in that it must be taught to children, who will instinctively learn or create spoken or gestural languages....
. Translation is provided by one screen and delivery system per person.
Typically, but not in all cases, the system is permanently installed along the backs of rows of seats. Each screen is positioned so that the text is clearly visible to each user. The displays were initially available in vacuum fluorescent display
Vacuum fluorescent display
A vacuum fluorescent display is a display device used commonly on consumer-electronics equipment such as video cassette recorders, car radios, and microwave ovens. Invented in Japan in 1967, the displays became common on calculators and other consumer electronics devices...
, (VFD
VFD
VFD may mean:* Vacuum fluorescent display* Variable-frequency drive, a speed control method for electric motors* Volunteer fire department* V.F.D., a secret organization within Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events....
) and, in 2000, liquid crystal display
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
, (LCD) was used. In 2004 the displays became available with organic light-emitting diode
Organic light-emitting diode
An OLED is a light-emitting diode in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compounds which emit light in response to an electric current. This layer of organic semiconductor material is situated between two electrodes...
, (OLED) screens. Each type of display provides the same text information and program annotation on eight channels simultaneously, may be turned off by the user, and is user-operated with a single button. The software is capable of supporting venues’ existing systems as well as Figaro Systems' "Simultext" system. The software enables cueing of each line as it is sung, and it appears instantly on the screen.
The company builds fully modular systems including its wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
handheld screens for users who cannot use seatback systems, for example people in wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
s, who may be viewing the opera in areas lacking seatback viewing, or people with compromised eyesight.
Venues
In the US, the company’s systems are in use in the Ellie Caulkins Opera HouseEllie Caulkins Opera House
The Ellie Caulkins Opera House, which opened on September 10, 2005, is located in Denver, Colorado as part of the large Denver Performing Arts Complex. It seats 2,225...
in Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, Colorado, The Santa Fe Opera in Santa Fe, The Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
, the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, Lincoln Center, New York, the Met
Met
-In the arts:* Metropolitan Opera in Manhattan, New York* Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, New York* Various buildings known as the Metropolitan Opera House* The Metropolitan Ensemble Theater in Kansas City, Missouri-In computing and the Internet:...
(there called "MetTitles"), the Roy E. Disney
Roy E. Disney
Roy Edward Disney, KCSG was a longtime senior executive for The Walt Disney Company, which his father Roy Oliver Disney and his uncle Walt Disney founded. At the time of his death he was a shareholder , and served as a consultant for the company and Director Emeritus for the Board of Directors...
Theatre in Albuquerque's National Hispanic Cultural Center
National Hispanic Cultural Center
The National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico is an establishment for preserving and promoting the culture of the Spanish-speaking world...
, McCaw Hall
McCaw Hall
The Marion Oliver McCaw Hall is a performance hall and opera house, located in Seattle, Washington. Inaugurated in June 2003, it was constructed within the basic steel support structure of the earlier Seattle Opera House, originally created for the World's Fair in 1962 and gutted for this...
in Seattle Washington, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri, the Des Moines Metro Opera
Des Moines Metro Opera
The Des Moines Metro Opera is based in Indianola, Iowa, a town of approximately 14,000 located 12 miles south of Des Moines, Iowa. DMMO was founded by Dr. Robert L. Larsen and Douglas Duncan in 1973. A summer opera festival, the company usually performs three operas in rolling repertory during...
in Des Moines
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
, Iowa and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Missouri.
In the UK and Europe, the systems have been installed in venues including the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in London, the Teatro alla Scala and La Scala's Teatro degli Arcimboldi
Teatro degli Arcimboldi
The Teatro degli Arcimboldi is a theatre and opera house in Milan which was built over a twenty-seven month period in anticipation of the closure and subsequent nearly three-year long renovation of Milan's La Scala opera house in December 2001...
opera houses in Milan, Italy, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain, and the Wiener Staatsoper in Wien
Wien
Wien is the German language name for Vienna, the city and federal state in Austria.* Wien , in Vienna, Austria* Theater an der Wien, a theater in Vienna located at the former river WienWien may also refer to:...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
Awards
In 2001, the company won the Los AlamosLos Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...
Laboratories’ Technology Commercialization Award for its Simultext system.
In 2008, the company’s software was one of four finalists for the Excellence Award for Commercial Software awarded by the New Mexico Information Technology and Software Association.
External links
- “The Expectation of Experience,” The International Society for the Performing Arts Foundation, (Rye, New YorkRye (city), New YorkRye is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the town of Rye, which is larger than the city. Rye city, formerly the village of Rye, was part of the town until 1942, when it received its charter as a city, the most recent to be issued in New York...
), 60th Annual Conference, January 8–10, 2008. Speaker Bio of Patrick Markle http://www.ispa.org/ny08/bios.php