The Identity Thief
Note: On February 9, 2009 the person posting the fake version of me admitted for the first time that it was not me playing the piano. He indicates this in the opening of the video and in the description. Between February 1, 2008 and February 8, 2009 over 30,000 views occurred before he admitted the truth.
Blog written: December 13, 2008.
In 1991, Virgin Records released my performance of Liszt's most famous piece, which is my signature piece. Liszt put his most difficult technique, the descending octaves, at the climax of the piece. The media coverage of my national tour always included references with regard to my abilities when it came to playing the piece. I promoted the "Streetwise" CD by playing Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 on "The Joan Rivers Show." Jay Leno wanted me to play one of my own compositions when I appeared on his show, because being a composer was part of the interview and it wouldn't make any sense if I played a "cover." However, when Jay and I toured together, I ended each of the 50 shows we did that year with Liszt's Rhapsody.
On Feb 1, 2008, a thief stole my identity and posted an internet illusion of myself on YouTube that makes many of his viewers think that I'm not capable of playing the piece from the Tom and Jerry cartoon that I'm known for playing.
The video confuses the viewer by using sheet music for graphics, not photographs of the performers. It's title is: Richard Kastle Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody no 2 Ending. It features three performances and names three pianists, myself, Kissin and Gibbons. The scam is that the first pianist who plays the Hungarian Rhapsody ending is not me. It's a really bad pianist who can't play the descending octaves. The incompetent impostor is placed side by side with good performances by Kissin and Gibbons. My level of virtuosity is the illusion. Any reasonable person who hears the first 20 seconds of this video will be conned into thinking that I can't play the notes. The person responsible for this scam uses the name GuitarSonata on YouTube. His channel represents that his real name is Matt Montoya and he's from Houston. I have every right as an artist to control the use of my identity, or do I? Mr. Montoya thinks that he has the right to steal my identity and use it to create an illusion that makes me look like the opposite of what I am.
Of the tens of thousands of YouTube viewers who think they are hearing me play Liszt, most of them are not. They're being scammed by Mr. Montoya. Their first impressions of me are based on this illusion. When bookers and other industry people type in my name on a Google search after being approached by my manager, they see this scam illusion which is usually fourth or fifth on the first page.
Matt Montoya is an identity theft with malicious intent. His video was designed to steal my reputation for the purpose of destroying it.
Within the video, he to explain why he took the time to do what he did. He claims that he loves watching this piece and has grown tired of seeing the controversary over the discussions about the level difficulty of the ending. The bit about how he loves watching the piece is nonsence.
The text of the video compares me with Mark Hamelin, who simplifies the passage by not hammering it. He plays it at a moderately quiet volume. Liszt insists that the climax of his most important piece be hammered out at full volume, which is very difficult to do, because it increases the distance the hands travel. Mark is a fine pianist who delivered a fine performance of Liszt's Rhapsody, but he is more well known for playing other repertiore. He recoreded the Rhapsody on an indy label with limited distribution. He's not in the group of virtuosos who were chosen by major labels to record the piece. Lang Lang is in the group, but he's not even mentioned in the video. Mr. Montoya's arguments are nothing more than a smoke screen designed to justify his crime. He says thayt he did it brcause he was bored. He sounds like an opportunistic thief who steals a car just because he has nothing better to do and thinks he can get away with it.
The video is peppered with irrelevant subject matter and forms conclusions based on weasle worded phrases like: "many people say"... "it's believed to be"... "pieces are said to be more difficult"..."claimed to be"... "I can't say for sure, but"..."I would bet my money that." In addition he's taunting me with an offer to remove the video if I give a note perfect performance of a four hour avant garde piece that is the most painfully torturous experience any pianist could endure.
This is a con artist who is using YouTube as a format to commit a crime he thinks he can get away with. I believe he has met the threshold for prosecution for engaging in criminal actions motivated by malicious intent.