He does play liek a midi. It works amazingly for some things, such as Kapustin, Strangely I like his Alkan cd's a lot, but live performances are not as good. His Busoni concerto is great.
Apart from that I can't stand his playing, and it bore sthe life out of me. His new DVD is just depressing to watch.
He's not that famous either. He's huge in America, but I will not comment anymore on that. He is heavily abused from most people I know, except a few who do love his Alkan. His playing is just boring, it's got no variety of sound, and it's just all the same no matter what he plays. Listen to that Haydn sonata! I mean where is the fun?