I was scared silly for my first recital. Got better each year after. Still never liked it. Someone told me the potassium in bananas calms the nerves.
I played for an hour tonight at the family Christmas gathering. Was fun.
Cheers
The critical challenge of the "Fantasie-Polonaise" is creating the sense of homecoming when the A-flat theme returns in triplets at the very end. It requires incredible concentration to make it work. I did it reasonably well, but years later when I heard it played by a professional, I understood how it should really sound.