ritardandi

X. plays skilfully and correctly, but his expression continues crude, cold, monotonous; he shows too pedantic a solicitude about mechanical execution and strict time; he never ventures on a _pp. _, uses too little shading in _piano_, and plays the _forte_ too heavily, and without regard to the instrument; his _crescendi_ and _diminuendi_ are inappropriate, often coarse and brought in at unsuitable places; and -- his _ritardandi_! they are tedious indeed!

Piano and Song How to Teach, How to Learn, and How to Form a Judgment of Musical Performances Friedrich Wieck 1829

Schumann's ritardandi and agogic accents -- he employs twelve hemiolas or metric shifts in No. 5 -- makes her performance a keeper, especially given the lucidity of her piano tone, courtesy of engineer Ludger Boeckenhoff, and the SACD's clarity.

Audiophile Audition Headlines 2010