The PERFECT performance........

[s1d1f1]

I was thinking...Is there any perfect performance in front of many people...?LangLang seems like he is alone practising in his room,Rubinst.seems too ,,I'm here to play,and getgood critics''....But...Is there any ,,no fear,,at all performance?

[elevateme_returns]

what?

[counterpoint]

Okay, s1d1f1, as I understand your question, you think, that the concert situation makes it difficult or impossible, to play "perfect". Perhaps it's only possible to play perfect when nobody is listening. Just the pianist playing for himself and then there's the magical moment where he thinks: that was perfect!

But who knows, if it really was perfect...?   

[rc]

By all accounts I've heard, there will always be performance anxiety.  Actually, I think the more time you put into the music and the better you get, the more fear you will feel on stage because there's that much more at stake.  Having a trainwreck hurts less if you're a bumbling beginner than if you know you're better.

Here's an exercise I found useful s1d1f1 (assuming you've already practiced the piece to the best of your abilities):  Before you walk into your practice room pretend that you're about to go on the stage.  Imagine the audience, the building (helps if you can see the place beforehand), you walk up to the piano, sit down and get comfortable.  Look at the keys and imagine "this is a piano that I'm unfamiliar with and I'm not sure how it will react", all eyes are on you and you only have one chance to play through the piece, there can be no stopping and making corrections now... aaaaand begin.

The idea is to experience the stage fright and practice under those conditions, imagine it as real as possible until you really feel the butterflies and nervousness.  What you're practicing is to be able to play through mistakes without letting them spiral into other mistakes, how to avoid anticipating problems (which has the tendancy to create problems), to listen carefully as you begin a piece and adapt to an unfamiliar piano.

I practiced like this 3 times once the night before a performance and by the time I had to play I was feeling much more comfortable and the playing came out better than I expected.

[s1d1f1]

Nice..thanx,I will try...Ithink like that too...but what do you think about hour before performance...that feeling like"I don't need this stress'' or''why am I hear'',the fight betwen me,my self,my shaking hands,and all the problems with that(friends_pianists/they are like ''why are you playing piano for ten years,and you are STILL afraid''? tHEY MAKE ME feel sucks...and they are like ,,Im the best'',even that I KNOW I CAN BETTER!!! help thax

[opus10no2]

Zheer is a grammatical genius.

[jlh]

Nice..thanx,I will try...Ithink like that too...but what do you think about hour before performance...that feeling like"I don't need this stress'' or''why am I hear'',the fight betwen me,my self,my shaking hands,and all the problems with that(friends_pianists/they are like ''why are you playing piano for ten years,and you are STILL afraid''? tHEY MAKE ME feel sucks...and they are like ,,Im the best'',even that I KNOW I CAN BETTER!!! help thax

Be glad you feel something!  If your pianist friends don't feel anything, then you should pity THEM because in my experience and judgement, if you fail to become nervous at least a little bit, then you lack the ability to connect with the music in the best way possible.  The emotion of nervousness is connected with other emotions.  Lose one and you should wonder if you still have the others.  Be glad you're nervous -- it will make you a better pianist.

You should go on stage with something to present the audience.  Don't go on stage thinking they are all judging you and everything you mess up will kill you.  Enjoy the music!  Play with the music, show the audience why you like the music.  You are there to entertain.  Think back to performances you have been to (perhaps before you were a pianist).  How did you react to the performer?  Were you sneering at them or were you enjoying the music? 

Show the audience why you're studying music. 

Above all else... when you're performing, DON"T strive for a perfect performance!  Strive for a performance that accurately represents the piece you're playing.  That may include a wrong note or two, but if that happens, forget it.  The audience probably didn't hear it anyway.

[gerry]

You asked, "what about the hour before the performance" when you are feeling lots of anxiety - one suggestion would be to drown those feelings by concentrating on warm-up finger exercises - not on the pieces you are about to play. Just as a marathon runner wouldn't run his whole race just before the actual marathon -  but would instead stretch, limber up, etc. Works for me...

[chopinmozart7]

listen to those guys,they know how to perform in front of public.