When a record company makes a mistake, the artist pays for it. When a manager makes a mistake, the artist pays for it. When the artist makes a mistake, the artist pays for it.
Expectation closes the door to what is happening in the moment.
If you are playing repertoire material, you're stuck. There's not huge amounts you can do.
Purely by hard work, one can become an artist.
What we hear is the quality of our listening.
My life as a professional musician is a joyless exercise in futility.