What is a successful performance?

[m1469]

I am very interested to find out what people consider to be a successful performance, especially as it relates to your own.

Is it audience reactions?  Perfect memory, perfect accuracy, communication?  What is it that makes a person feel that one performance is "good" and another performance "bad"?  

What is a successful performance to you?


m1469

[Antnee]

To me a successful performance is one which I managed to eliminate my need to impress with my fingers and successfully communicated the music the best I could. Of course pianists are hardly ever satisfied with their own performances and I have hardly yet to be, but you always get that special feeling when you know you did well. Then again, the audiences feelings on your performance are entirley different than yours. Which raises another interesting question. Is it your opinion that matters in the performance or the audiences?  

-Tony-

[allchopin]

Then again, the audiences feelings on your performance are entirley different than yours. Which raises another interesting question. Is it your opinion that matters in the performance or the audiences?  

If you want another gig, you'd better start by impressing the audience .

A successful performance is one where your interpretation of the music you played matches the reaction evoked from the listening audience.  This is hard to attain - usually it takes years of playing in front of people and reducing the worry about the glaring eyes of the people.  Eventually, you want to feel about a piece in a performance, how you do during practice, and you want to convey this to the audience (without letting the usual sweaty hands/shaky legs/trembling arms get in the way).  I too have yet to do this.

[Tash]

well successful can be seen from two different points of view- 1)your own assessment of how you played, 2)how the audience saw it
so for you it'll be successful if you believe you played as well as you possibly can and conveyed all you wanted to.
from the audience's point of view it'll be sucessful if you managed to engage them and maintain their interest.
and if you get both then it's doubly successful!!

[ahmedito]

The only times I come out very happy from a performance (only about 2 or 3 times) is when

a) my fingers, hands and brain did what they had to do
b) I was relaxed and calm, I felt well playing in public and I felt I was giving the audience whatever I have to give them
c) that the audience was receptive and quiet, which means they like what they are receiving and Im accomplishing a good performer-audience flow.