i was not saying that you completely forget about yourself and become chopin when playing. but those players had a vast knowledge about the composers who wrote the piece. you cant just leave them away and play it completely different. of cousre you play the music from the heart - no question. and thats what the masters of the grand days did.
and thats the reason why you learn so much history when studying music. studens always wonder why they have to learn what mozart did all day long. i mean ok.. it can be a pain in the ass, but when its your goal to play realy good, then you should have some knowledge of this.

however - basically what i was goin to say with this thread is, that the technical side of the instrument is only the first step on your way to become a good musician. i think the basics of that extreme dedication to music as in those grand days, are very important. just take jeff beck for instance - thats what i call music. you cant get that by just practicing scales till you reach 400 bpm