Almost total recall about the thing for the performance (7)
I believe the answer is:
recital
'performance' is the definition.
(recital is a kind of performance)
'almost total recall about the thing' is the wordplay.
'almost total recall' becomes 'recal' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'the thing' becomes 'it'.
'recal' enclosing 'it' is 'RECITAL'.
'for the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for recital that I've seen before include "Public musical performance" , "Narrative" , "Musical entertainment or a long account" , "Concert by soloist" , "One's performance" .)