tones
compulsive cantater
Yesterday I visited Titian down in Oberarth ââ'¬â€œ perhaps that should be ââ'¬Å"upââ'¬Â in Oberarth, because it's at higher altitude than where I live, and it was a lot whiter than where I live (and that snow joke). Very pretty drive down the Autobahn.
The basic details of Titian's system are described here:
http://aca.gr/pop_rai.htm
This is a bit out of date, as his CD player is now a four-box (more accurately a three-box and something that looks like an escapee from ââ'¬Å"Star Trekââ'¬Â) affair, a Metronome Kalisto ââ'¬â€œ and if you have to ask, no, you can't afford it.
The heart of the system remains the Nestorovic System 16 with its four speakers mounted in pairs (the ones you can see in the photo), its dedicated valve power amps and its two huge subwoofers, powered by an enormous Krell. Since I last visited, Titian has had some room treatment in his listening room up in the attic of the house. This consists of foam on the walls and various shallow boxes divided up by partitions into lots of squares on walls and ceilings. He's not entirely convinced that they're doing the trick he wants, so he's going to do some more work on the subject. The Nestorovics are now on attractive new plinths and the Fadel Arts cable boxes with their gold tubes no longer hang from the ceiling but are now seated on Finite Element Pagode plinths, matching the Pagode stands of the rest of Titian's gear. These look very attractive.
The system remains quite simply the best I've ever heard by a considerable margin. The highest tribute you can pay to any system is that you could be fooled into thinking that you're actually in a concert venue. Nothing I've ever heard comes as close as this system. In fact, it is in some ways too good. When we played Hilary Hahn's recording of Brahm's Violin Concerto:
I heard something I'd never heard before ââ'¬â€œ in some places, as well as the note she was playing, I kept hearing something else, in time with the note. I think it was the actual sound of the bow smacking on to the string!
The system can play very loud without noticeable distortion or effort, and produce all the details at the same time.
Titian is a man passionate about his music, so hi-fi simply didn't feature in our conversation! Here's some of what we heard, with some notes on music and performance:
One of the reasons for the visit was that Titian wanted to hear some of Gardiner's SDG cantatas. We weren't disappointed. We played CD2, the cantatas for Reformation Sunday, BWV79 (Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild) BWV192 (Nun danket alle Gott) and BWV80 (Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott). BWV79's marvellous opening chorale, with its horns and drums was splendidly rendered, and the soloists in the individual arias were there and there. And Ein feste Burg, the mighty battle hymn of the Lutheran Church was wonderful, with the rasp of the bass sackbut (trombone) snarling and growling in the opening choral fantasia beautifully caught. Gardiner has really done the musical world a service by producing these beautifully-performed and beautifully-recorded performances, especially astonishing in that they were recorded on a weekly basis in all sorts of venues.
A bit of organ next (like myself, Titian likes the organ):
This is Marie-Claire Alain's most recent recording of all the Bach organ works, using, for the most part, organs of the time that have become available after the reunification of Germany.
We did the Dorian and the Passacaglia in C. I'd always thought Marie-Claire's Passacaglia lacked tension compares to some, but having heard it on Titian's system, I'll have to think again.
As mentioned, we did Hilary Hahn's Brahms, but then compared it with a vinyl version of Henryk Szeryng with the Concertgebouw. We agreed that the latter was better, as Szeryng played it as if he meant it, and the dramatic tuttis of the Concertgebouw were better than those of the ASMF. It was altogether a more dramatic, more satisfying performance.
Of course we had to hear this:
http://www.andante.com/boutique/Shop/index.cfm?action=displayProduct&iProductID=895
the latest Brandenburg recording from Concerto Italiano. The agreeable ââ'¬Å"roughnessââ'¬Â of the original instruments shows up well ââ'¬â€œ the slight braying tones of the horns in 1, the high-flying trumpet of 2, operating on the edges of possibility (it might have been taken just too fast).
I brought the classic King's College version of Allegri's Miserere with me:
Wonderful, but the recording shows its age ââ'¬â€œ a lot of hiss and rumble and a bit flat. Such an accusation could not be levelled at this one:
La Bartoli should be on the World Heritage protected list ââ'¬â€œ the woman is astonishing. The voice leaves you speechless, by turns tender and soft and then fiery and aggressive, long-held notes of gorgeous tone and quicksilver runs of notes, matching the instruments, all under perfect control. Some humans truly are more equal than others. All presented in a wonderfully vivid recording with real fire in its belly
Then there was this:
Ms. Isbin plays a mean guitar ââ'¬â€œ the rendition of the slow movement of the Rodrigo is gorgeous.
Those are what come to mind at the moment. Many thanks to Titian for a great day of great music. As I've said before, if I ever come into enough money, I'm going to buy a house and a system like this!
The basic details of Titian's system are described here:
http://aca.gr/pop_rai.htm
This is a bit out of date, as his CD player is now a four-box (more accurately a three-box and something that looks like an escapee from ââ'¬Å"Star Trekââ'¬Â) affair, a Metronome Kalisto ââ'¬â€œ and if you have to ask, no, you can't afford it.
The heart of the system remains the Nestorovic System 16 with its four speakers mounted in pairs (the ones you can see in the photo), its dedicated valve power amps and its two huge subwoofers, powered by an enormous Krell. Since I last visited, Titian has had some room treatment in his listening room up in the attic of the house. This consists of foam on the walls and various shallow boxes divided up by partitions into lots of squares on walls and ceilings. He's not entirely convinced that they're doing the trick he wants, so he's going to do some more work on the subject. The Nestorovics are now on attractive new plinths and the Fadel Arts cable boxes with their gold tubes no longer hang from the ceiling but are now seated on Finite Element Pagode plinths, matching the Pagode stands of the rest of Titian's gear. These look very attractive.
The system remains quite simply the best I've ever heard by a considerable margin. The highest tribute you can pay to any system is that you could be fooled into thinking that you're actually in a concert venue. Nothing I've ever heard comes as close as this system. In fact, it is in some ways too good. When we played Hilary Hahn's recording of Brahm's Violin Concerto:
I heard something I'd never heard before ââ'¬â€œ in some places, as well as the note she was playing, I kept hearing something else, in time with the note. I think it was the actual sound of the bow smacking on to the string!
The system can play very loud without noticeable distortion or effort, and produce all the details at the same time.
Titian is a man passionate about his music, so hi-fi simply didn't feature in our conversation! Here's some of what we heard, with some notes on music and performance:
One of the reasons for the visit was that Titian wanted to hear some of Gardiner's SDG cantatas. We weren't disappointed. We played CD2, the cantatas for Reformation Sunday, BWV79 (Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild) BWV192 (Nun danket alle Gott) and BWV80 (Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott). BWV79's marvellous opening chorale, with its horns and drums was splendidly rendered, and the soloists in the individual arias were there and there. And Ein feste Burg, the mighty battle hymn of the Lutheran Church was wonderful, with the rasp of the bass sackbut (trombone) snarling and growling in the opening choral fantasia beautifully caught. Gardiner has really done the musical world a service by producing these beautifully-performed and beautifully-recorded performances, especially astonishing in that they were recorded on a weekly basis in all sorts of venues.
A bit of organ next (like myself, Titian likes the organ):
This is Marie-Claire Alain's most recent recording of all the Bach organ works, using, for the most part, organs of the time that have become available after the reunification of Germany.
We did the Dorian and the Passacaglia in C. I'd always thought Marie-Claire's Passacaglia lacked tension compares to some, but having heard it on Titian's system, I'll have to think again.
As mentioned, we did Hilary Hahn's Brahms, but then compared it with a vinyl version of Henryk Szeryng with the Concertgebouw. We agreed that the latter was better, as Szeryng played it as if he meant it, and the dramatic tuttis of the Concertgebouw were better than those of the ASMF. It was altogether a more dramatic, more satisfying performance.
Of course we had to hear this:
http://www.andante.com/boutique/Shop/index.cfm?action=displayProduct&iProductID=895
the latest Brandenburg recording from Concerto Italiano. The agreeable ââ'¬Å"roughnessââ'¬Â of the original instruments shows up well ââ'¬â€œ the slight braying tones of the horns in 1, the high-flying trumpet of 2, operating on the edges of possibility (it might have been taken just too fast).
I brought the classic King's College version of Allegri's Miserere with me:
Wonderful, but the recording shows its age ââ'¬â€œ a lot of hiss and rumble and a bit flat. Such an accusation could not be levelled at this one:
La Bartoli should be on the World Heritage protected list ââ'¬â€œ the woman is astonishing. The voice leaves you speechless, by turns tender and soft and then fiery and aggressive, long-held notes of gorgeous tone and quicksilver runs of notes, matching the instruments, all under perfect control. Some humans truly are more equal than others. All presented in a wonderfully vivid recording with real fire in its belly
Then there was this:
Ms. Isbin plays a mean guitar ââ'¬â€œ the rendition of the slow movement of the Rodrigo is gorgeous.
Those are what come to mind at the moment. Many thanks to Titian for a great day of great music. As I've said before, if I ever come into enough money, I'm going to buy a house and a system like this!
Last edited by a moderator:
). This group remembers me very much about the other italian group "
