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Yes, I thought long and hard before condemning that performance, particularly the second time. And I took opinions from others here, also musicians.

Not that three opinions are necessarily any better than yours! But there ARE certain absolute standards that can be applied. Be honest to yourself. Rather than continuing to protect yourself, listen to it now, see if you're happy with the lumpy, uneven LH triplets (I didn't say they should be metronomic!) and the huge gaps in the melody. Others on this forum, reluctant to criticise you in public, may PM you to concur. No need to admit this here, but listen, learn and progress.

Now, if you wish, you may have the last word on this matter :-)

Since several opinions on this performance of the Moonlight Sonata has been stated, I think it would be useful to state the OBVIOUS facts. The rhythmic and dynamic balance between left and right hand is lacking in several places, so that the rhythmic flow is disturbed. At one point it got so bad that I jumped in my chair. At that point I hit the stop button. I am not sure, but it sounded like the piano was a bit out of tune on some notes.
I have not noticed this problem when Saul plays his own compositions, and I find some of them quite charming. Pianists more accomplished than Saul has managed to make disasters out of classical compositions, so he is in good company.

You know what I find mostly ironic and surprising, is the audacity to believe that I some how am not aware of the things you said, and that I need you to tell me and inform me.

I am not a concert pianist, I'm a composer, therefore I play the compositions of other composers very differently then what you'll find with mainstream pianists. I played the piece how I felt it should be played and how it reflects my own thoughts and feelings with this piece, highly subjective I know, but that's the way it is.

I'm not looking with my performances to portray Beethoven at his best, but my own unique interpretation, I know that some wont be too delighted with that, but I know for a fact that others are and were delighted with this performance, and I also know that I cant make everyone happy, I wish I could, but I cant.

So to sit here and to preach me that I should fix this and that with this performance is a nice gesture, but frankly I just can't understand what makes you think that I was not aware of these things myself.

You are not talking to a math teacher or a carpenter, but a musician, if you have sensitive ears, I also have sensitive ears, so what are you trying to do here by telling this to me publicly?

That's you have superior hearing and listening capabilities?

Well let me just inform you that you don't.

Here's a performance of myself playing the Chopin waltz in C sharp minor, yes I know you dont have to tell me all the un-orthodox points found in this recording, but as I explained before as a composer I play other composer's music in a very different way, not the main stream way, and if I was a concert pianist I would have attuned my performances to the profession of concert pianism, and that means more orthodox interpretations.

This work is called ‘Waltz of the third Sabbath Meal’…

Some background of course.

Every week Jews celebrate the Sabbath, it is a holy day and is the 4th Commandment from the Ten Commandments. Jewish Law says that a person must enjoy this day and keep it holy, that means refraining from any creative work, and also it means to eat special traditional foods in a set of 4 Sabbath meals. The first Meal is on Friday night, the Second one is Sabbath morning after the services, and the 3rd one after the afternoon service, and the 4th one after Sabbath ends, a farewell meal for the Sabbath.

This song is sang by Orthodox Jews sitting together in the Synagogue after the afternoon services, in the ‘Third Meal’ of Sabbath. I always found this Waltz very moving, uplifting and inspiring. Right after eating a little the singing begins and everyone sings together, it doesn’t have words, its only music but it expresses the voice of generations.

I decided to create an arrangement of this Waltz and perform it and present it here for everyone to hear.

‘Waltz of the third Sabbath Meal’…

Fair enough Nikolas, and I'm sure that as you actually make your living as a composer, you've thought about copyright issues more deeply than I.

But I wasn't talking about downloading (or using software). I think that linking to public-access videos, especially videos on youtube, is fair game, no?

-J

Saul, I enjoyed listening to the latest piece you posted here.

I am curious, since copyright issues have arisen in this thread, about the art you use in your videos.

For example in this Sabbath Video, do you acknowledge in any way the artist that created these images. I don't see any mention of the painter. Is this not important to you?
Do you have permission to use these paintings in promoting your musical compositions ?

VERY VERY nicely done!

Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it!

One can only assume by your lack of response to my questions,

that...
You haven't acknowledged/made reference to the artist ,
It doesn't matter to you.
You don't have permission.

I am a painter, photographer and sculptor. I'd be rather ticked if someone used images of my works to promote their works, without my consent.

lol Saul,

Ok first thing

Copyright does not cover who you think should visit and who you think should post links. You can't copyright a string of letters which is all a link is. You also can't claim a copyright for your site as it contains material for which you don't have permission. So out window goes any legal hold on your website and the word copyright. \

Second thing.

Your version of moonlight. Criminal.

Third thing

For someone your age, you really need to stop taking yourself so seriously. You are a self admitted amateur and you are 36. Why do you act like EMI has you on retainer.

That’s 34, for the second time, are you suffering from an early version of Alzheimer's?

You can’t even get my age straight, an elementary thing by all counts, yet you claim that you are so intelligent and capable of helping others… how can you help any musician when you freaking cant even remember a person’s age, after he had corrected you a number of times…you’re getting really old and annoying, but that’s besides the point…

At any case you been added to my ignore list, and you shall stay there forever.

BadOrange. I really admire your ability to get to the point without wasting words. I have something to learn there. That certain other persons should be able to learn that, is probably too much to hope for.

Added to my ignore list until you cool off, I dont owe anything to you, and I dont owe any explanations to you.

Performing my composition "The two Lovers"...Regards, Saul.

Completely silly movement, what's the point of posting his moonlight sonata recording in this thread ? Is it a jealousy or what? You should be ashamed of yourself.

Thanks for your voice of reason!

Why it has become such a uphill struggle to share art and creativity with people without asking anything in return is Beyond Me.

Saul, may I ask what to me is a "point of interest" question:
I know you usually have good reasons for naming pieces, so I was surprised at "The Two lovers" For example, if there are lovers (as in a relationship),there would usually be two, and therefore I got to thinking why wouldn't just "The lovers" suffice?

Here is my best guess after puzzling over this: ( I bet I am wrong) Is it so as to avoid any possible reference to the Tarot cards "The lovers?"
Sorry, but my mind asks questions...

Good question,

Lovers can include more then two, for some may be lovers but have other love outside their relationship. Its like the word "you" it can refer to 2, the most natural choice, but then it can also mean a whole bunch of people. Lovers is too general, and I wanted to keep it more specific to the theme of this work. In this work, the 2 lovers are basically portrait by the two voices found in the high notes representing the female voice, soprano, alto, and the lower notes of the piano, representing the man, bass, and baritone. There is a conversation between this pair, beginning with the female voice and answered by the male, and then there is a change of keys. The beginning opening them for both male and female is in A minor, then it changes to E minor, and then back again with added new material in between these themes and then the return to A minor with the ending closing phrase. I really enjoyed playing this work. It took me a while to construct the entire piece, and then to record it. The work is complete, I just have to put it on paper, and that takes time cause I have other things to do, and it becomes just too difficult to find the time to sit down and put all these short piano pieces into scores. Years back when I had more time, and wasn’t busy with my job, I was able to comfortably put many works into paper, writing the scores. But now, with the various responsibilities and the tight schedule I just dont find the time to work on these pieces more thoroughly. I really wish that they will create in the future some kind of a notating system that reads Mp3 files and perfectly notates the score without any hassle.

Thanks for listening...

Cheers,

Saul

Thanks Saul, that has completely satisfied my enquiring mind!
I am engaged in something very similar at the moment,but with a difference, so wont mention the details till its finished, when it is I will share, and hopefully gain some constructive criticism, allthough as it's sort of personal, that prospect scares me a little. Strike that, it scares me a load!
Thanks.

Looking forward to listen to it...

Performing my Improvisation Fantastique at the piano...