The acoustics of the renovated auditorium of the production centre of the Italian radio and television (RAI) in Naples (Italy)

The above mentioned Auditorium was opened originally on 31st March 1963. The acoustic design was aimed at its use as both radio and television studio and concert hall. Its slightly diverging side walls configured a fan shaped hall having a volume of about 13`700 m3. 1`000 well upholstered chairs were located over a stepping-up floor in the shape of a sector of amphitheatre. A majestic pipe organ was exposed in large niches in the frontal end wall behind a large stage platform. Part of its 10`000 pipes were hidden in the lateral walls behind arrays of wooden slats. It is reported that the average reverberation time in the unoccupied auditorium was 1.6 s. During its operating life until the first half of the nineties the Auditorium hosted many kinds of public show, many of which were broadcast both via radio and television. However, on the occasion of classical and symphonic music performance complaints were reported both by musicians, orchestra conductors and by audience in a number of seat rows which were nearer to the orchestra platform. Various minor changes were tried to tackle with problems related mainly to a lack of loudness and communication between the musicians, the conductor and the first part of the audience. One of the remedies was, e.g,. a cluster of loudspeakers suspended well above the usual position of the orchestra conductor to reinforce the natural sound in the hall. Starting from the half of the nineties the musical activity was dismissed and the Auditorium was adapted to the sole function of studio for the production of fictions to be broadcast on TV. On September 2004 the management of RAI banned a competition for the renovation of the Auditorium in order to comply with new regulations and to restyle the hall to regain the original acoustics or better. The DETEC was involved in the consultancy for acoustics. This paper will report measurement results about the use of the Auditorium as a concert hall, which was reopened to music on October 23, 2005.