Caruso Museum
Palazzo Reale di Napoli
- Palazzo Reale di Napoli
OUR SERVICES
- Multimedia set-up
500 square metres, 60 rare original objects, 3,500 digitised documents in 11 multimedia tables and maps, 3D animations, 43 audio stations and film installations.
The first national museum dedicated to Enrico Caruso, a single large space, a true room of wonders. The museum’s layout is predominantly multimedia, but is flanked by several more traditional elements to create a balanced overlap between the new and the old and to enhance the space of the Doric Hall of the Royal Palace in Naples, thus keeping visible all the original and characteristic elements of the environment.
The exhibition environment is divided into separate portions by means of a clear and linear path to lead the visitor to immerse himself in and understand the history of the character. The use of technology is fundamental as it allows interaction with collection objects, photographic images, original posters and memorabilia placed along the route. Particular attention in the design of the exhibition itinerary was paid to the use of audio content: thanks to Beacons, each visitor can listen to music, podcasts and enjoy audioguide functions.
Through the system, it is also possible to activate a “guide” function, that is, the possibility for the chaperone of a group to be able to be heard by several visitors at the same time without them having to put on and take off their headphones and to be able to interact with the installations.
NEO[Narrative Environments Operas] project.
The Tour
The tour route opens with the large multimedia “chandelier” installation whose introductory audio content can be enjoyed while wearing headphones.
Section 1 – History of a Myth
The entire first aisle houses an immersive installation that references Caruso’s modernity as the first to record and broadcast his own voice. In this environment featuring five large video-projected records, the audience moves from one record to the next and witnesses a story made of images, music and voice. Each disc showcases a song significant to Caruso’s story as well as a milestone in the chronological narrative of his life, recited by an off-screen voice. On the walls opposite the projections is Caruso’s biography printed in chronological progression. The sound of the five video projections in sync with the looped video images is enjoyed automatically by the audience as they enter each area.
Section 2 – The Voice
The wall at the back of the first room displays eight original records recorded by Caruso. Behind each is a monitor from which animated graphic lettering emerges and is arranged around the physical object, providing content about the specific song. To select a track, visitors bring their smartphone close to the corresponding graphic symbol and activate the content via NFC system. There is also a display area in this section where 2 gramophones are placed and a horizontal display case exhibiting some original record cylinders and covers. The table has a dedicated tag that allows the visitor to access a podcast dedicated to the theme.
Three in-depth interactive multimedia tables equipped with dedicated tags to listen to sound content and related to the theme of discography allow visitors to consult digital materials, scroll through the main stages of the birth and development of the recording industry, and watch a clip from the film “The Great Caruso.”
Section 3 – Caruso Stories
This section features three in-depth areas dedicated to three different aspects of Caruso’s world with tables connected to podcasts that can be activated through Beacon devices. One display table per room features small physical objects illuminated by a strip-led light recessed into the edge, its surface featuring a single glass top underneath part of which is a recessed monitor. For each area there is also a multimedia table, of the same shape and finish as the display tables, which houses an ultra-wide monitor placed under a glass on which a touch film is placed to make the top interactive. Podcast content that can be selected by placing the personal device on a graphic tag for both the display and multimedia tables can also be enjoyed. The interactive multimedia table dedicated to Caruso on stage includes the presentation of 30 digitized images of the singer in stage costume. Each individual image can be selected while a short caption superimposed on the photograph provides information about the character and the opera performed. The content is divided into seven “strips” that visitors can scroll through, each dedicated to a specific content and with a title, a sequence of images, captions, and blocks of text between images where desired.
Section 4 – Carusomania
One room shows a video projection dedicated to tributes to Caruso by leading figures in the world of opera.
