A fine balance

The word ‘virtuoso’ is often bandied about. Stephen Pettitt explains what it means to him

Serious music critics — and I do not except myself from the breed — have many tendencies that mark them out from the rest of society. One of them is the habit of bandying around the word ‘virtuoso’. We know what it means, or at least we think so. A virtuoso is a musician who can play with panache a score of seemingly impossible technical difficulty. A virtuoso performance — for, yes, our word can be used adjectivally — is one in which said virtuoso, or ensemble of virtuosi, has succeeded in demonstrating that panache. A good thing, too. What could be more thrilling than a virtuoso performance of a glittering orchestral showpiece, a tormentingly challenging Romantic concerto, an extravagant piano study or violin caprice? The north face of the Eiger has been conquered. The musician has, once again, triumphed over impossible adversity.