Practicing with Stephen Hough

I was thrilled to see a magnificent interview with Stephen Hough in the newest issue of Clavier Companion.  He is one of my favorite pianists, both for his thoughtful, precise interpretations and equally precise technique.  Here are a few of my favorite tidbits on practicing:

"How you practice is how you play.  And it's so often the case that bad practicing and wasting time practicing are the reasons people don't progress or don't play well...It is also important not to over-practice, and not to become neurotic about things, just to find solutions."

"In practice [be] a perfectionist, in performance [be] a realist." (Gordon Green)

"Prepare assiduously, tirelessly at home, but when onstage accept the situation at hand without wishing the piano were more in tune, the audience were more appreciative (or larger), you hadn't made a mess of that octave passage and so on."