Brief quote during actual performance (7)
I believe the answer is:
recital
'performance' is the definition.
(recital is a kind of performance)
'brief quote during actual' is the wordplay.
'brief' means to remove the last letter.
'quote' becomes 'cite' ('cite' can be a synonym of 'quote').
'during' is an insertion indicator.
'actual' becomes 'real' ('real' can be a synonym of 'actual').
'cite' with its final letter taken away is 'cit'.
'cit' inserted inside 'real' is 'RECITAL'.
(Other definitions for recital that I've seen before include "Performance, usually musical" , "Public performance of music" , "Article about musical entertainment" , "Article (anag)" , "One's performance" .)