The ancient Greeks gave great weight to the value of music in establishing and revealing character. Athenaeus in Deipnosophistae114.628 tells the story of Cleosthenes, the ruler of Sicyon, who in observing one of his daughter’s suitors dancing in a vulgar posture, announced, the “young man had danced away” his marriage.
It is understood that a pianist must, in a recital, become Beethoven, who cannot be present. But at the same time, does the performance also reveal the pianist’s character?
