It meant that he didn't fail to spot real quality, and it also meant that he was rarely fooled by empty virtuosity.
He broke with conventions in his concept of the ballet d'action, in which empty virtuosity, as he perceived it, would have to yield to the passions of the heart.
Malcolm Gladwell's exegesis, however, suggests that we are to vote for the most impressive display of empty virtuosity.
We read about basuco and kami, but through the lens of "ethnic lit" the main effect of such well-chosen words is a kind of empty virtuosity, a way to remind us that we are far away from Iowa, and Vietnam.
These are all healthy and worthwhile ideas, but as Yanni and his 40-piece orchestra played feel-good instrumentals full of ornate but empty virtuosity, the concert began to seem like a musical medicine show.
Even in his concertos, there is little room for empty virtuosity.
Bruni only bestows two stars on Gilt, citing the empty virtuosity of the dishes.
Though I have always wanted to love the piece as much as the best of Schubert's piano sonatas, it can often seem the one time that Schubert succumbed to easy, empty virtuosity.
Relatively restrained, at least by the hysterical standard of its predecessors, the concluding chapter of Mr. Park's "vengeance trilogy" is a kinder, gentler exercise in empty virtuosity.
The formal facility some find so awesome is for others an empty virtuosity.