Rubato

[greyrune]

How much rubato do you guys use on a good old romantic peice.  I learned Chopin's nocturne op.9 no.1 and was using a lot of rubato.  I just got a teacher however and she says that i was using it too much and it was a bit mannered, i had not reallised that too much expression could be a bad thing.  Granted i have played it through completely without and with very little, and bits of the melody do come out smoother, i still think parts just need it though.  What do you guys think, can you have too much of a good thing?

[paris]

yes, i think if you use too much expression of each every note, you lose the main point. i heard people who play all pieces in very pathetic way, and sometimes that sounds like caricature. you don't have to make ''big pathetique'' with every piece.
simplicity is sometimes better choice.