About the stage fright: One has to know, why stage fright does come. Nervousity is not stage fright. Excitement is not stage fright.
But over-nervousity and over-excitement lead to stage fright. Inadequate preparation leads to stage fright, - no wonder. Adequate preparation, but missing fundamental training & knowledge, will lead to stage fright. Alcohol & drugs do seemingly reduce stage fright, but influence the performance as to get out of control easily, which will lead to stage fright again. A devils circle. Yes, if you take drugs as sedatives, you will notice that your energy will often be converted into body heat, thus influencing the pitch negatively, but being doped already, you will not notice the shifted pitch. If you listen to the recording of the performance after the concert (being doped, you will not listen even to your own performance !), you will collapse & suffering from more stage fright the next time, - taking stronger drugs etc. - a never ending story. Believe me, I tried this stuff too in distant past. But when I auditioned for the Munich job (1964), I forgot the pills, so had to audition without the pills. In Duesseldorf I got the job, without taking any pills, - I even had none. So I played the Munich audition, squeezing all ring muscles - you understand ? - and have not touched any sedative drugs except when I suffered a heat stroke (my 2nd) five years ago, so doctor gave me the Beta blocker to reduce blood pressure to normal level. But I was on ill leave. I noticed the bad effect of Beta blockers with one of our conductors, who told me he had to take them for health reason. I also noticed the bad effect of alcohol as a sedative against stage fright, taken by several conductors. I know several conductor who come even to rehearsals after some glasses of liquor. You cannot discuss anything with drunk conductors. It really does not help, even it seems so. Alcohol & drugs seem to push away the fright, but they also push away the brain control. If you are clean of alcohol & drugs, you are able to analyze the things & situations. If you are well prepared, including your fundamental training, - and you get a bit nervous because of some over excitement, it is naturally, very naturally. But you will be able to handle the situation. If you still have difficulties with high entrances, because you cannot hear the particular pitch or interval, you will suffer stage fright off course. If you are still too shy to produce yourself in front of a big crowd (concert hall), you will need more experience in smaller concerts. Otherwise you will still suffer stage fright. If you play fast pieces & you still have fingering difficulties, if you play some transpositions & you still have to write some note names on top of the notes, you will suffer from stage fright. If you play solo pieces exceeding your abilities, - just to impress others because of your ambitiousness or because your teacher or your parents want to stay in glory - (they often close ears & eyes for other soloists & are not able or not interested to compare objectively !) - , you must not wonder about stage fright. Less but better, that's the only choice here. The list can be endless. If you are not able to solve panic situations at the spot, you will suffer stage fright. But you can get used to stage fright. This is a second routine besides the routine of playing. Two examples from my experience: When I was 15, I played my first K.495 with a professional orchestra - just a week before Dennis Brains fatal accident in 1957. No problem at all. When I was 18 I played K.447 in my home town, but committed one single crack in the cadenza. You know what ? I though I had to throw away my horn, but kept the grip on myself & continued without another "accident". I remained so, seeing a crack as a mere "accident" not as an act of "failure" or an expression of inadequate preparation. A mere accident. This means NOT TO OVER VALUATE ONESELF. Remaining human, not thinking about oneself as a genius. There is no reason to panic if you can live with small accidents here & there. We are not machines. We are humans ! The other experience: Doing business in Beijing 1994, I received a call to jump into six performances of Tschaik. No.6 with Sir Georg Solti & Vienna Phil in Tokyo. As we had a strong party then with the Chinese engineers, we drunk a lot of Mao Thai (55% prrof) and my head was still full of "clouds" when I rush arrived at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. The rehearsal: You know, there is just one piano entrance with f#2 after few bars rest. I became scared to death the two bars before the entrance, really scared to death, like having a King Cobra in just one meter distance in front of me. Instantly, I switched on my "emergency" program - "Sauerkraut - Idiot - Dummkopf -", broke the block in the tongue, just played it. No mistake, no one single mistake in all six performances. This was my most terrible stage fright experience. I had not to analyze the situation as I knew the source for this kind of stage fright: the party & the alcohol. So I decided not to intake any alcohol , which I stayed with for several years. After two months time, my nerve control had changed dramatically to the better & was back good as it was when I was twenty years old. Since that bad experience, I stay away from alcohol, except some two three glasses of wine at New Year or birthday - all together five glasses per year, plus may-be three or four glasses beer in a year at certain special occasions. E.g. I had my last & only glass of beer this year at a dinner in Thailand Mid February. Try it & experience the difference. We have also to consider other sources for stage fright, as are family & health problems. This may happen to anybody, but the sources are known then. So careful mild medication might help. - Great singers might suffer much from stage fright, as they cannot know in advance, when their "instrument" (voice) will break. This is an enormous factor. There is also a kind of stage fright, which is caused by the colleagues, who just wait for your "accident", - and demonstrate this "expectation" openly. Medication will not help here, but an "elephant skin" does. And if you are very confident regarding your playing, you can build up the "trap" for your "good colleagues". As soon as you got them into the trap, they will start "ass licking" for you. And that is good so. Or you just play your stuff as a very responsible leader, regardless about the section. Leaving them alone. They should see how they can reach up to you. And the "tuttists" ??? Well, you suffer from stage fright also ? Very interesting ! You seem to suffer more than the principal ???? More interesting. Because of your part ?? Follow the principals advice without any opposition & he will take you with him forward. It is just up to you. Prof.Hans Pizka, Pf.1136 D-85541 Kirchheim - Germany Fax: 49 89 903-9414 Phone: 903-9548 home: www.pizka.de email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
