This was one listener's reaction to the Mozart A minor Rondo that I played yesterday -- not just a listener, but a professional pianist, chamber musician, and vocal accompanist. It might well be assumed that she knows what that means. It came out quite differently yesterday than a few days before, who knows why.
In retrospect (and I have not yet seen the video that I had made of it - something I do only rarely) I suspect it had to do with paying more attention to the short note values this time. It was not something I did "on purpose," but something that happens more and more as I get interested in the ephemeral aspect of all live music.
I noticed something concretely different at the very end when the long note values took on special meaning. Where might they have come from if not from the need for them?
