Here's a daily laugh for everyone. It's hard to find anyone more deluded than this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlQ4jL84COc&feature=related

Is there a missing link???

Whoops, yes. It's there now.

You have no idea how many times this arrogant galoot has been mentioned, discussed, downtrodden, insulted, argued with, and hated.

Please use the search function to see what else was said of him.

Make that " ignorant[/b] , arrogant galoot"

IMO, his most ridiculous crime was the parody of Juilliard.

Out of curiosity I listened to part of this:
Kastle - Chopin
and this
Horowitz - Chopin

My piano ears aren't fine enough yet. Kastle talks a lot about athleticism. He's right. Horowitz does not play like an athlete.

I love that guy. I can't wait to go to that video every day to see what new ranting he has in store for me.

His talk of "trick pianos", HR:2 being the hardest piece ever written, the need for pianistic legends to acquire more "myelin sheath" to be able to "hammer out" 16th note octaves...it's great. I used to mock him until I pointed out that he WAS in fact, Kastle and then he banned me.

I'm actually thinking about re-learning the last page of that piece as a video response to parody this joke of a "musician".

What a jerk!!!

Actually Rubinstein once said of Hororwitz that he won the Piano Olympics.

I can't comment on the ridiculous; won't waste my time.

Kathleen

I like the way he dresses when he performs....

that guy is pathetic ... i think he was self-promoting his playing .. only to discover he possesses no extraordinary abilities, and to be humiliated when he actually believes Liszt' 2nd HR contains the most difficult passage ever ... wow

He he, a little unorthodox, isn't it?

Lol...There's nothing really that hard about the hr2...The ending is the easiest part (except for maybe the beginning).

I was watching Marc-Andre Hamelin's interpretation (which isn't imo very interesting)...His ending is so "virtuoistic". I doubt he faked it.

I was arguing with that guy on youtube. He stopped responding after i told him to explain why the last page was so hard when it was only simple alternating octaves between the hands. All he does is make up numbers like "68 changes in direction of hand motion per second" (or something like that).

Frankly, if he hadn't said that, i wouldn't have even known who he was. I would have just watched his interpretations of the heroic polonaise and the hr2 and dismissed them as another boring, amateurish attempt.

The dude is nuts.

He says HR:2 is the most difficult piece for piano ever written. He claims this guy "Kastle" possesses superior technique to the likes of Hamelin, Cziffra, Gyorgy, Horowitz, Brendel...the list goes on.

Another redeeming aspect of this video is that it's a true testament to the audience/musicians of classical piano. Despite the prevailing notion that classical music is dead/dying and that the public now only values "wam-bam" showboat pyrotechnical piano concerts and recognition can only be gained through unorthodox, fantastical performances...the proof is in the pudding. This poster has been absolutely HAMMERED on YouTube, and his video is flirting with a sub-1 star rating.

People still know garbage when they see it, and I think that's good news for everybody.

double

And thank the maker for that. Have you noticed that Kastle has absolutely no tonal control -- or perhaps does that on purpose...

Wow!!! What a d...bag!!!! I' m not sure if this guy is pathetically funny or funnily pathetic ... either way he's set a new standard of stupidity on youtube.

Fair or not, I think some of the negativity of the reactions relates to style as well as substance and can explained as much by his personality as his pianism. Most people, I believe, would find him simply annoying.

The image created by unorthodox choices in clothing, grooming and mannerisms doesn't aid the credibility of outlandish opinions. I admit I felt dismissive before he even spoke; when he did, my guilt was dispelled the unfortunate confirmation that maybe sometimes you can judge a book by its cover, after all.

Steven

It's also funny how the youtube guy (=Kastle?) claims to be a better pianist because he composed symphonies and piano concerti or something.

He draws attention, gets an audience, especially among those who like to be impressed and can relate to what he is projecting. I'm sure this man is successful.

I found listening to his playing, and then that of Horowitz, instructive. I barely have my feet wet so I can't hear with any semblance of a discriminating ear. I am also learning to form my own attitudes to playing piano at this stage. So this Kastle fellow talked about athleticism, that an elderly Horowitz cannot be athletic. So I listened. Horowitz does not sound or act athletic like Kastle.

But to my untrained ear, the playing of Horowitz lent substance to the music, or maybe drew it out of the music. I heard phrasing, texture, contrast, meaning in juxtaposition. I also saw and heard control instead of raw muscle. I am very glad to have seen both performances, because that of Kastle taught me a lot by way of contrast. One might actually be tempted to think in terms of athleticism, prowess at getting all the fast complicated notes. Better to see somebody who is good at those two things and get some perspective.

Interesting..."Kastle's" Myspace page does not seem to exist anymore. I wonder why???

While I'm at it...what an ignorant, insulting, supercilious, sorry excuse for an artist...oops...I mean "athlete". I'll take Lang Lang any day over this galoot (thanks Fleeting Visions!).

I wouldn't be so sure. Last time I Google'd his name, the only hits I got were related to his YouTube video. I may have gotten one from his album on Amazon as well, but definitely nothing indicative that he has found success in the classical piano arena.

As far as Horowitz goes, the man is a complete hypocrite. He claims Horowitz "skipped over the page" when he came to a difficult section since he lacked the technique(!), but after listening to Kastle's Friska that was recently posted, anybody who has heard or played HR:2 more than a few times will notice that Kastle skips over more than a few pages. One could also argue that these are in fact, the most difficult sections of the Friska.

I love how he(Kastle) mistakes interpretation with technique.

He (Krustle?) represents to me everything that can possibly go wrong when a person decides to play music. Why play music? To prove to the worlds that you can "wiggle you fingers faster" (from Gieseking) than anyone else?

I just bought Brendel's complete Beethoven sonatas. I can't stop listening. They've been running non-stop while I work for 2 weeks now. Noble, eloquent, powerful (reaching for thesaurus . . .)

That is what music is about. You can brag all you want, and dress up your appearance however you want, but it is the ability to reach into your listener's heart directly from your own with your instrument that makes a great musician.

Finally, one of the most powerful performances I have ever heard (IMHO!) was the "Last recital for Isreal" by Rubinstein, done when he was in his 90's, I believe. He made lot of mistakes, but none which negatively impacted the music. If you haven't heard that recording, I highly recommend it, particularly if you're a fan of the Appasionata. Kastle (sp?) ought to lock himself in a room with that disk for about 6 months and learn by immersion what piano playing is really about.

A village somewhere is missing an idiot.

I believe the following from Macbeth applies:
Out! Damned spot!

This guy is an idiot. You' re never going to have people 's respect if you start up by insulting the greatest.
Anyway, it's pretty obvious the guy has some issues. if you check his videos on youtube, there is this guy, probably kastle himself, posting everyday, on and on , about the same rubbish: Horowitz's trick piano , etc etc. He's totally obsessed. Scary.

Kastle is right. Horowitz is not an athlete. But Horowitz is a pianist of the hightest calibre and a true musician. Kastle is an atheletic clown. Gaby Tu