In recital, poet is a striking performer (9)

I believe the answer is:

cymbalist

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'striking performer' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'in recital poet is a' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'recital' could be 'list' and 'list' is found in the answer.
'a' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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