"Frank Stearns" wrote ...
"Richard Crowley" writes:
I have an annual gig (coming up in a couple of weeks)
where we have a choir of ~100 choral conductors and
a world-class accompanist and a well maintained Steinway.
But the venue is a giant half-cylinder "quonset hut"
gymnasium with metal-halide illumiation (essentially
"street lights"). Alas, given the ambient conditions,
I can't ever expect commercial-quality recordings in
that space. :-(
Richard! Are you sure?? 
With the right mics fairly tight on the chorus (three to four KM184s or
84s,
perhaps), something close on the piano, *maybe* something in the hall to
use/not use
in post (sometimes a teeny bit of rear-hall signal from even the worst
rooms has
some value in the mix), then time-alignment and the right flavor of reverb
to
mitigate the intentionally dry recording just made, and you'd likely get
something
quite presentable.
Not a lush European hall sound, true, but one can craft a pretty good
illusion.
Now, the buzz from the halides would be interesting to deal with, but
probably not impossible.
Since we're in the same 'burg, contact me if you'd like. Sounds like a fun
challenge.
If you have the time, come down to Canon Beach sometime
between 30-Jul thru 3-Aug for the PSU Haystack Choral
Conducting Workshop (CB Elememtary School gymnasium)
We're in session from 9am thru 4pm M-F, with a concert
on Friday evening (free to public) at 7pm.
The buzz from the halides is pretty pervasive, and combined
with the unusual acoustics pretty much prevents any attempt
at removing the (reverberated) buzz.