My leave of Pianosociety, which is no more one!

Hi Andreas,

I'm sad to hear you want to leave. Can't you think about it once more?

with best wishes

Jan

 

Hi Andreas,

I'm very saddened at the news of your leaving Piano Society. I have a high respect for your many wonderful recordings here in terms of both your artistry and the quality of those recordings. You've added much to the permanently archived repertoire here at PS. And you've often helped me with your encouraging comments, and I'll certainly miss that. Perhaps, Andreas, you can reflect more on your decision and hopefully revise it? You know the old saying, "Never say never". Or can we somehow dissuade you from taking this drastic course?

David

 

For Heavens sakes, can't you simply ignore the criticisms? To hell with them! You should really rise above all this petty nonsense, and continue to grace us with your music. Please!!

 

Dear Mr. Pfaul,

I too wish you would not leave! Personally, first of all I would like to thank you for all the times in the past your comments were so useful for improving my recordings.

Let me remind you that some criticism has to be ignored from time to time, when it stops being helpful or is simply nonsense.

All that being said, I realize it still is a very personal decision to remain in the society and wish you good luck if that is the way you decide to go.

Marcelo

 

Hi Andreas

I'm glad that you bring this topic up. I know of at least one member other than myself who has withheld submitting further recordings to the site over the past few years due to the often negative and seemingly-hurtful tone that the "Audition Room" has taken on. I hope that the spirit of things will change.

Thanks for putting forth your concerns.
Nicole Muller
Canada

 

Oh, that's so sad. :cry:

Andreas, I thank you very much for you help in playing better the few pieces that I submitted here. I strongly regret your decision.

 

I strongly agree! And I hope that my (partly ironic) comment in the latest "quarrel thread" did not act as a catalyst for your decision.

 

Re: My leave of Pianosociety!

dear Andreas,
i enjoyed so much listening to your recordings, and particularly to your Well-Tempered Clavier! i liked watching you in youtube, with the nice surprise of you and Chris playing together. but all in all, i think the most important gift i got from you is your dedication to music, which showed in your warm and heartfelt comments. i always found your encouraging way as something precious. i regret your decision and i hope you will think over it...
Mr Duffy

 

Dear Andreas,

don't quit !

You will never please everybody and some people do go a little far with their criticism. But, you are a good pianist and people appreciate your recordings.

It is clear, (certainly when I have put recordings on here), which comments are useful and made with real knowledge and experience and those which are not. So, I just take heed of the useful ones and ignore the rest.

When thinking of critics, I often think of this quote from Brendan Behan :

"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how its done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves".

Regards
Mark B

http://pianosociety.com/cms/index.php?section=2459

 

Dear Andreas,

Some wise person once said: " When someone insults me, I think to myself that he is either right or wrong. If right, I can benefit from the criticism, and if wrong, then it's his problem! "

Wise words indeed!

 

Re: My leave of Pianosociety!

I certainly hope you do not leave. Your feedback has always been extremely kind, helpful and encouraging.

I think also no one will deny you are an extremely fine and accomplished musician. I have always admired your recordings, your vast repertoire and your playing style.

 

Kindergarten. :roll: My opinion is: He/She who does not want to be criticized, should not post his/her recordings here! If I could expect that all reactions to my recordings be positive, then I wouldn't read them anymore. I cannot comment on statement 2), but statement 1) is really ridiculous. No negative thoughts? :shock:

 

I'm a bit late to this discussion as I was out most of the day and only had time to reply to Andreas' mail which he sent me privately.

Andreas, I am as surprised and shocked about your sudden move as the others. As I wrote youalready, PS would be a poorer place without you, and I ask you to reconsider this decision which I think is emotional and rash. It seems to me you are far too easily wounded. Life on the Internet requires a thicker skin. You'll get that in due time, I believe.

If more people agree that my offending, harsh, and insulting comments as an admin/critic are driving people away and spoiling the nice atmosphere of the site, then maybe it is time that someone else volunteers, someone who says only nice things and puts everything on the site without any form of judgement. I'd be quite happy not to have to evaluate all manner of recordings being thrown at us (some of it seriously bad, pardon the word), and not to have to try and maintain a quality standard which we believe to be reasonable. Or maybe we should dispose with the concept of Audition Room, if a honest opinion is not allowed there seems little point in it. Whatever the case I would never put up or praise recordings which I found unacceptable, so if value judgement was no longer allowed, that would be the end of me as an admin.

As for the Bisotti case, Monica and I were unanimous that his latest submissions were weird and did not in any way serve the music. I do not feel that we must praise recordings that deliberately ignore what the composer wrote, and are only meant to showcase the interpreter's original, unique and creative mind. I would rather shut up completely than not being allowed to speak my mind in a case like this. Why would one person be allowed to trash a piece of beautiful music, but someone else not be allowed to condemn that ? Sometimes there's just no nice way to say something.....

I did not ask Sandro to leave so I am not sure why I should have to invite him back. He's as welcome as ever, but should not expect me (or anybody) to applaud recordings like the Chopin 17.1 Mazurka which I called a total parody - a comment I still stand by. I would never put such a recording on the site, or if I did, I would deny having done it. If value judgement is not allowed then AR has no purpose and we could put anything at all on the site as long as the notes are right.

Hm, I seem to have rambled on long enough here... back on topic now.

Don't leave !!!! You will miss PS as much as we'll will miss you.

 

Hi, this is Joe Renouf here.

I am deeply sorry that anything I may have said could cause this trouble. That was not at all my intent.

However, I must say that I find Andreas's use of my (and Chris's) names on this particularly public thread inappropriate at best. I am not going to descend to the level of such ad hominem attacks. Lest I be thought of a villain here, I can only attempt to defend myself against these attacks so that you all get a more complete picture of the story here.

First, I in no way sought out Andreas's recordings first to comment on them or criticize them. Andreas commented first on my recordings of the Bach D Minor Prelude and Fugue from Book I. He commented for instance that "In the fugue I do bring out better the voices of the subject and some counterpoints than you do IMO" (seems a bit confrontational and a strange thing to say about one'e own playing, don't you think?) Also "there is too little voicing in your recording of the d-minor-fugue and too little consciousness about it."

At that point I reviewed his C# Major Prelude and Fugue in return. Here's a sampling of my comments there: "In the fugue, I think you have much good musical expression and generally voice it well (though perhaps in certain of the melodic passages, the voicing is just a tad uneven). Again. similarly to my comments on the prelude, I would favor a bit more bite on those descending sixth bass notes. Overall, it sounds just a little bit careful to me tempo- and touch-wise." On the whole, however, I was basically positive and constructive in that review (the evidence is there if you want to review it), merely nitpicking at a few details.

He then commented on my C# major and minor pairs in return. I have to admit that I didn't much care for this tone there. He stated that my performance had "no special or interesting aspects" on the C# Major and stated that my fugues had a "lack of voicing." At that point, I did decide that I was going to be completely honest about what I really thought about his playing of the D Minor prelude and fugue, and this is where the controversy started.

Regarding my comments there, I would like to begin by saying that (1) it is only my, admittedly, very limited personal opinion and (2) remind all of you that I did not seek out his recordings first, but vice versa.

This brings me to the subject of criticism in general. I thoroughly agree with Syntaxerror's recent statement that anyone who submits recordings, or anything else for that matter, into the public eye has to be prepared for whatever criticism may come of it. As long as the critiquer (1) does not use profanity and (2) limits his discussion to the playing and does not attack someone's person, anything goes, regardless of the motive or the intent of such criticism. The "critiquee" in a forum of this nature then, I believe, has several options, three of which are the following: (1) argue with the the criticism outright by responding to the critiquer, (2) ignoring the criticism, (3) deciding that maybe there is a "kernel of truth" in some or all of the things that are said and trying to work on them.

I can further illustrate my points here by way of personal example. I admit that I have at times become a little frustrated with Chris's comments on some of my playing, sometimes not, I find, being too constructive and mostly negative. Here are some ways he has at times described my playing: "noisy," "workmanlike," "ugly," "heavyhanded," "lacking in refinement," and "leaden." However, he has also praised it at other times, calling it "grand and sonorous," "having great style and beautiful touch," "solid," and "excellent by all standards."

Such is the nature of the beast. People like certain things and dislike others. If I think about it logically, I can in no way fault Chris for his manner of criticism, and to use his words, maybe I have been a little "prickly" about it from time to time. And, after simmering down about it a bit, I generally admit that there are definitely kernels of truth in what he said (this is part of the reason I , for instance, decided to redo my Liszt Jeux D'Eau) :wink: The only thing I sometimes question in his approach and that causes me to bristle, I suppose, is that sometimes his remarks lack specificity (i.e, pointing to specific details), but it is what it is.

Anyway to make a long story short, criticism is part of reality and life. If one just wants to play for one's friends and receive generally just blanket praise, one should not submit recordings over the Internet. My words may have come across as harsh and rude, and I'm sorry for that, but I cannot apologize for my action per se, because all I did was to give my honest opinion. But let it be noted that I in no way intended for my words to have the effect they did. It's only my trivial, inconsequential, and spontaneous critical reaction. But as Chris pointed out, if one can't stand the heat, he or she should get out of the kitchen.

 

Andreas, When you say "The others? I see only one other." Don't you realize that although only one person used those actual words, all of us who expressed disappointment at the thought of your leaving were certainly shocked and surprised, even though we didn't use those actual words? I for one was certainly most shocked and surprised--indeed, I really felt horrible! Just think of how you would feel if someone whose personality and playing you loved were to leave! For Heavens sake,don't you realize how much suffering it would cause us if you do leave? Please, have a heart!

 

Andreas, let me put it another way: Why should those of us who are decent, be penalized because of the misbehavior of a few?