Retrospection: To be Satisfied or Not

I am sure many of you have experienced the same issues with retrospection. When I listen to my old recordings, I can't believe I sang like that in the past and was actually satisfied with it. But, I guess, at any one point, when you don't know enough, you think that is good enough. But, no problems with that...imagine the converse: because you know so much, you are never satisfied...then...you must as well never perform.

So, now that I am committed to perform on 17 Nov, I believe by then I should (or rather, must) be satisfied (or more ideally, delighted) with my standard. To enable me to achieve that, I shall not be stupid enough to perform a song cycle again without adequate preparation (to my teacher, Thomas Manhart, that's at least a whole year..."we Germans show respect for song cycles"...). And, with my crazy fulltime (+ overtime) JTC work, Acis and Galatea, RWinds concert and my exam, so that I can assure that I can be at least satisfied with myself on 17 Nov, I shall:

1. cut down my performance time
2. not learn too many new songs
3. use the most appropriate key for my voice
4. learn the text and story so damn well!

...but of course I know when I look back at this episode next year, I will be far from satisfied...which is good news actually, because that means I will have made improvement over the next year!