i know this threads been made before, but it just makes my blood boil....

[imbetter]

https://richardkastle.com./




 

[communist]

well he does make a point

[lau]

well, to me richard kastles ending of the rhapsody didn't sound any better than anybody elses

[scottmcc]

if richard kastle is so great, why does his allmusic.com page look like this:

https://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=41:64331~T3

when vladimir horowitz's looks like this:

https://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=VLADIMIR|HOROWITZ&sql=41:7472~T3

Inquiring minds beg to know. 

[simon_horsey]

Have you seen this?

https://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=drEFMz7HiCU

I love his slide at 6.01... because it is exactly what I suspected myself!

As far as the child Kastle is concerned, don't let him concern you. Feel pity for somebody so obviously insecure he has to act in this way and have an alter ego defending him on YouTube instead of just coming out and saying those things himself. If he spent as much time practicing and learning new repertoire as he does arguing about his own brilliance he would be a far better pianist – but everything he does in an effort to be recognised, is ensuring he will never be recognised in the way he wants (and probably needs) to be.

Don't watch him, don't read his website if it annoys you, (the more people who go to his site, the more links he has pointing to his site from forums like this, the higher his ranking in Google will be), don't listen to him... eradicate him from your mind and fill the space you gain (lots - I always think angry thoughts take up more space in your head ) with some of the wonderful performances there are out there 

[richard black]

I'd heard of the guy but never seen or heard him play before. Well, he's not outstandingly fast or accurate and not everyone fakes it by a long way. I don't, for a start. Hamelin's Youtube vid is faster and more accurate than Kastle's and actually has some phrasing too! (and his cadenza is well worth hearing).

[ronde_des_sylphes]

It's just absurd and pathetic. There are plenty pianists around who can play it without faking; the difference is they don't feel inclined to make themselves (in)famous by spuriously denigrating the reputations of great pianists (and Lang Lang). And.. it would be nice if Kastle's live version didn't have so many 7ths and 9ths in it, and his studio version wasn't completely dynamicless and with the pedal glued to the floor to cover up as much as possible.

[gerry]

This effort is not too far removed from some of the divertisement offered by vaudevillian entertainers; i.e., the guy who could play piano with his hands behind his back, or while standing on his head, etc. So what??!! Considering the overall nobility of the piano literature and all its splendid executants, the amount of hype displayed by the Website reduces this effort to nothing but a rather self-serving parlor trick. It's easy to become obsessed with trivial aspects of interpretation such as whether a performer executes adequate octave glissandi in the "Waldstein" or if they break an Olympic speed record with their Chopin G Prelude. Personally, I'd rather leave my spirit open to larger, more meritorious aspects of interpretation.