Case of Play-What-You-Like?

How often are musicians forced to practise a piece which they don't connect well emotionally with? I guess that's very often a case for professional performers, when the pieces they play are heavily governed by what the public wants. In the end, we'll probably get a less emotionally charged piece. Even for amatuers musicians joining competitions, they're forced to practise pieces that show off their technical skills than pieces which they can connect better emotionally with. Now, that's pretty much a sad scene, isn't it?