A musical interlude

Someone at the boozer where I play has repeatedly asked me to play some Mozart. I'm currently revisiting K333. I haven't played Mozart for decades, but have been told that I play him particularly well, at least I used to. The lecturers at uni used to say that all my playing was informed by scholarly research. I have to admit this is true. I have read extensively about the performance practices of past ages, because I want to give a faithful interpretation of what the composer intended. I do not like heavily romanticised performances of Mozart, nor do I like some of the empty, mechanical 'virtuosity' that some players like to emphasise. Classical composers manipulated the listener's expectations through their music, for example by 'tweaking' the formal structure of a piece, or by doing something original with the harmony. The music is completely unemotional. Rather it is cool and intellectual. Romanticism and virtuosity for its own sake belong to later centuries, the nineteenth in particular.