Chapter Three is dedicated entirely to Ricardo Franassovici and his infectious passion for music—and for sharing it with us.

Ricardo was everywhere at The Happening. Over the two days of the show, he went from room to room introducing the systems he had curated with such care. His enthusiasm was infectious, as was his love for music, mind you, not just hi-fi.

We didn’t follow him around; he would simply appear in the suite we were listening in on, among other visitors, and start talking to everyone as if he had known them forever. He'd talk about the equipment on display, certainly, but also about his philosophy of music and the business around it. Then he would pick a few tracks to share with us, dancing along and commenting on the sound, but mostly on the performance.

In the video below you’ll hear: Bobby Darin sing “If I were a Carpenter”; Nils Lofgren in “Keith Don’t Go” (at a visitor’s request after Ricardo had left the room); James Blake in “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (played by Jeffrey at my request); Clara Luciani singing an Abba cover in French: “Bravo tu as gagné”; Rod Stewart in “Foolish Behaviour”; and a take “Of Sloop John B” by the Beach Boys you won’t believe it was recorded with my phone! (In Chapter Three: Listening Sessions, we’ll go back to some of these tracks and find out how they sounded with a different system.

As you can see and hear, Ricardo is no audiophile snob; music always comes first. For him, the system, any system, even one only a few people can afford, is a means to an end: bringing the world’s best musicians into your home, including those no longer with us, from classical music, blues, rock, country, and punk.

Or to let you relive unrepeatable live events, either ones you attended or ones recorded for posterity, like Queen Live in Brazil, George Michael Live at Madison Square Garden, or Nina Simone at the Montreux Festival that he also played at the Happening.

When it comes to music, Ricardo embraces all genres. From a pristine audiophile pressing to an old record he bought from Jack Lambert in the lounge, what matters is what happens when you play it. It must move you. Thrill you. Hold you under its spell. He is happy to sit and listen or to get up and dance.

 

A Qobuz download will do nicely, thank you. However, Ricardo maintains that downloads sound better than streaming. His advice is simple: if you like a track or album on a streaming service, buy it. Don’t just stream it. Support the musicians who made it, and keep a copy on your server, as he did for the systems in all six rooms. Or play an LP. Better still, in his view, would be to play a master tape.

At the Happening, Ricardo was more than a host; he was a pastor who led the audiophile flock to greener pastures and promised a longer life to those who listen to music. Or perhaps a friar, since he also enjoys good food, fine wine, and entertaining friends from around the world. Preferably with a glass in hand, a story to tell, and a chance to speak their language, Portuguese included!

 

I was in Paris, covering a show at the Hotel Nikko (what else?), when I first met him, some 40 years ago. As John Atkinson once said, I was a virgin in audio until I heard Krell amplifiers driving Apogee speakers. We’ve come a long way since then. Thanks to Ricardo, I was here again, listening to some of the world’s finest audio equipment under one roof, like old friends gathered for Christmas in a hotel already preparing for the festive season.

He seems to have found his secret to life: music. He wants everyone to participate in their own way, within their means. With one caveat: don’t buy a hi-fi system; buy a music system. One free from what he calls ‘electronicity’, a pervasive noise that gets between you and the performance and lurks in the dark caves of streaming services, he warns us.

As you’ll hear Freddy Mercury shout in Queen Live in Brazil, “Obrigado”!

Here is Ricardo at The Happening, at the Haycock Manor Hotel, sharing his convictions, records, and enthusiasm with visitors from across Britain and friends from around the world.

For your pleasure.

Ricardo Live on Video (26 min.)

Note: Sound and image were recorded with a cell phone, so it is merely illustrative, not representative of what we heard on site. Still, it is better than mere words. Notwithstanding, some tracks sound amazing.

Watch the video on YouTube in full screen at 1080p with headphones

The Haycock Hotel Mystery – Chapter One: Poirot Investigates

The Haycock Hotel Mystery – Chapter Three: The Listening Sessions (Soon on a webpage near you. Stay tuned to Hificlube.net)