Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Chopin - Ballade No. 4 in F-minor, Op. 52

As great as Chopin is, I think he is way over discussed on PW compared to other great composers.

What proportion of the discussion about various composers would you think would be appropriate for Chopin on a piano forum?

25%? 10%? 5%?. Should be an easy question for a mathematician to answer.

That performance by Kate Liu is indeed mesmerizing. Thanks for sharing. I also enjoy Eric Lu's performance: https://youtu.be/BXAMreHXUBA. He's the recent winner of this year's Leed;s Competition.

This Ballade to me is the complete symbiosis or distillation of all that Chopin is, note for note.. The Ballade No. 4, along with the Barcarolle, the Polonaise Fantasie, the Nocturne Opus 62. No 1, are Chopin at the height of his powers.

Here is a virtuoso rendition of the 4th Ballade by Horowitz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QXz8-rQ2hE

Great performance!

Here is yet another very interesting performance:



Her floating hands look almost effortless!

+1

Interesting thread. I have quite a few recording of this masterpiece. My favorite has been a mesmerizing one by Richter which he plays as if in a dream. I surely miss him. That said there are quite a number of fine performances out there and I really enjoyed Kate Liu mentioned above. I put this one down to see reactions from this group: https://youtu.be/SGnUHpsvfQY.
This is right after playing the previous three. Certainly outstanding technique but too rushed. Not a recording I would find myself going back to often, unlike Richter, Zimmerman, Cortot and now Liu. It certainly is exciting though and works well in a concert setting.

+1

It is this comment that truly separates many of the lesser performances from the better ones as I have found that when one is not "rushing" the playing then everything sounds to be more in control and the music itself benefits, too.

@MarkC:

There is absolutely no doubt it is one of the best compositions ever penned by Chopin.

Another recording:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgxrVoqVZpg

One of my favorites: Khatia Buniatishvili. I love the way she brings out some of the inner voices.

@Mark_C:

Here is some very rare (yet excellent) footage of Richter playing the coda section of the 4th Ballade:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn87swS8WAU

Note how the low C bass note is held that precedes the pianissimo chords at the 30 sec. mark!

Such playing!