In a word the perfect description of an emotion is not the emotion itself...The image of an emotion is not the emotion... The pianist playing he can play the image in a perfect way or can imperfectly play the emotion, but it is way harder to play the emotion because we must feel it totally and forgot the notes...
The written score playing so perfect it can be cannot replace the emotion rolling from the interpreter hands...
For example here : the perfect description of some "nuage gris" from Liszt score by the great Zimerman ( my best interpreter of Brahms concerto no-2 my favorite concerto by the way ) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnkzBbuyy1M
But now no more a "description" so perfect it was, but the emotion itself so imperfect it was by
Here we see the clouds with our eyes because the emotion is all over the place... It is no more merely beautiful image or representation we see as with Zimerman... it is sadness through clouds we FELT ...No more a beautiful score marvellously played...But mere emotion flowing from the sounds..
But we cannot listen in a distract way the E.Ny. interpretation at all...Too disturbing to be listen in a distracted relaxed way...
We can listen Zimerman in a distracted relaxed way, because it is perfect...
We must understand music, there is no right or wrong here between the two versions... But one thing is certain Liszt could have never been able to mesmirized crowds and put them in trance with Zimerman playing here... He played like