turn-offs for performances/intepretations

[ludwig]

I'm just curious what intepretation issues turned you off during a performance, was it the over-the-top expressiveness that wasn't necessary (physical and musically), especially if it wasn't in stlye (playing Mozart with alot of rubato??), or was it the unclear, muddled, noisy pedals which sustatined clashing harmonies throughout the piece? Was it the extremes of tempos you disliked? The rhythmic inaccuracies, the inappropriate dynamics levels? Lack of phrasing and bringing out of the melody? Too rigid, moved too much or other physical oddities?
And what piece was it?

[whynot]

In general, I'd say too little detail in baroque music and Mozart, and too much swooshing around in everything else.  I can appreciate the thoughtful swoosh when appropriate, but I don't enjoy an overall wallowing.  I am also suspicious for some reason of performers who look up at the ceiling while they play, or stare off into some distant place.  I know sometimes this is a genuine moment of really experiencing the music, but sometimes it's just a mannerism to make the performer look more expressive.  Why do I care???  It shouldn't matter!  It's a flaw in me, not the performer.  Oh, and "tapping" the keys:  making a percussive noise in the process of playing staccato.  Sometimes this suits the music, but often not.     

[wintervind]

Unnecessary motions will ruin a performance for me everytime-  Especially the ones who accually seem to have choreographed them beforehand.
Its utterly pathetic really

[quantum]

I don't mind the odd, stylisticly incoherent, or off the wall performances.  Sometimes they make you see the music in a totally different way.  I wouldn't want to hear this all the time however. 

The one thing that probably turns me off in a performance is inattention to detail.  I do not care for those that play the music like a lawn mower cutting grass or a press stamping out newspapers.  Some people play music as if their was no head sitting on top of their shoulders. The fingers move, but you would think they are working some assembly line in a sweat shop.  Performers who have splendid physical technique, but show no attempt to give meaning to the music, to convey a message with the language. Performers who recite a poem, yet manage to say nothing.   

[pianojems]

I used to know a woman pianist who would often swing her leg almost as if kicking when she played it was absolutly hilarious and distracting