You want to feel relaxed, focused, and positive about yourself and your playing. Above all, you want to be free of mental and physical snags while sharing musical insights with the audience. The seeds of a successful performance, while rooted in the period of learning and memorizing the notes, grow and mature in the time before walking on stage to begin the program. It is during this period that the player lives and experiments with the music, investigates its special details, and comes to know it intimately. It is a formative time for developing sound concepts about the repertoire and the experience of public performance.
Concentration is a type of mental stamina.
Playing through the entire recital program daily at least a month in advance develops mental and physical endurance. Concentration must strap itself to the music in a way that does not come undone. If concentration loosens during practice, allowing the ear and mind to stray, the player must draw it back while continuing to play. Imagination in practice drives away boredom and insures that musical ideas and the means of conveying them are fresh and interesting. Practice time should be as creative as the player can make it, continually rejuvenated by what the mind brings to the process.