I was gifted a copy of the Keller Quartett's performance of Bach's Die Kunst der Fuge on ECM shortly after it came out in 1998. I gave it a serious spin several times before concluding that it was overly studied and somewhat bland, perhaps bordering on tedious. I filed it away, pulling it out occasionally only to admire the cover artwork.

Last week, while working on some potential circuit refinements (it never ends), I wanted to hear a recording that was relatively fresh. I more or less randomly selected this one and thus discovered that I was wholly and entirely wrong.

The Keller Quartett's interpretation of The Art of the Fuge is in fact steeped in emotion, intricacy, and subtlety. So much so that I was nearly overwhelmed at one point and had to stop working for a while. I'm almost scared to listen to it again.

So, what changed in the intervening years? It's almost entirely down to the quality of the playback. The level of resolution that a DVA Digital Preamplifier and NP1 amp deliver finally let me hear deep enough into the recording to hear the delicate articulation and subtle interaction with the acoustics that make this performance magical.

This is what audio is supposed to do! Get out of the way and let the musicians' hard work come through. My previous systems, never mediocre by any means, still masked enough detail to rob this performance of its musical magic. I'm so grateful that we're finding more and more paths to removing the veils.

I'll return to more technical topics soon, but I wanted to get this out now because I can't contain my enthusiasm. If you appreciate Bach, you might really enjoy this performance.

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