Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Quotes

When they are performing in front of the public, they ought to have a sensation that's relatively easy, if the technical and the interpretive work was done before.

When I'm in show mode, I can't even think about putting on makeup; I just have to be centered.

I get to the theatre in plenty of time; I prepare my shoes in advance; I eat and drink the right things at the right time. The rest you have to leave to luck!

I'm getting to a point where everything is becoming streamlined in my life. I'm learning how to stand onstage for two hours and play in front of thousands of people as if I am completely in the moment every moment.

My act is always a work in progress. I pray I have a bad day before a show.

I warm up at home. I hit the stage, I'm ready, whether it's rehearsal or anything.

I like to spend time alone before I go on stage.

My ideal setting is I walk from the streets, backstage, and straight onto the stage. Two minutes, and I am on the stage. That way, in my head I have gone from my world and then into a social setting with my friends.

I leave for the show at least an hour ahead, and I do some vocal warm-ups, and that's pretty much it.

You have to be ready to sing and perform at any time.

As for the stage fright, it never goes away. When I'm waiting in the wings to go on, it's agony every single time but I stay focused and I know that once I'm on stage it'll be fine; I'll be in my happy little bubble.

So much of performing is a mind game.

I was terrified of being on stage, and I had to work very hard at a craft to get past that.

So much of performing is a mind game. You're memorizing thousands of notes, and if you start thinking about it in the wrong way, everything can blow up in your face.

I have a personal little routine that I do in my dressing room just to kind of get myself mentally prepared to go on stage, and part of that is a poem that I read to myself.

Onstage, I don't want to be thinking about my outfit, I want to think about what I'm doing, so I'll try to dress as comfortably as possible.

I really didn't realise until I got back the work that goes into a performance. You're like an athlete - if you haven't been practising things tighten up. I had to do a lot of practice work, but I got through it. Even when I was 21 I would have a 40-minute nap on the day of a show, and I will still do that.

All I have to concentrate on is my performing.

At this point, I feel fairly comfortable in terms of performance. I think having a sketch background actually helps a lot. Because my background is acting, and stand-up, in a lot of ways, is acting.

I don't agree with superstitious routines, but there are a couple of things I'll always do before performing. I'll get together with the band and chill out, and then, just before I go on stage, I'll always check my flies.

Understand that the time in the audition is your time. Really own it and take control of it. And do what you prepared. Focus on really executing what it is that you intended to do.

I know what it feels like to walk out in front of a sold-out crowd of a thousand people that are there for you, and how good that feels, but as an opener, you just have to train yourself to think that it's going to be harder.

Acting is just a process of relaxation, actually. Knowing the text so well and trusting that the instinct and the subconscious mind, whatever you want to call it, is going to take over.

Above all, ignore the audience.

I never used to want rehearsals, because I was like, 'Oh, no. I'm more spontaneous. I'm a natural. I'm a one-take person.' But that was because I didn't have any training. I was going off instinct.