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

And, here is a performance of the 4th Ballade with a rather laid back and relaxed audience enjoying the playing (back in 2013) of an amateur pianist:

Here is another interesting and new recording of the 4th Ballade:

I sometimes feel that if I listen to my favorite works (Chopin Ballades are definitely on my top list) way too often, they kind of wear out. It gets too dissecting into the sacred and loses some of its magic. It's a subjective feeling of course, a masterpiece is a masterpiece in itself, regardless of how much you dig into it. But yet... Does anyone else feel the same way?

Just wanted to mention why, as much as I am obsessed with the ballades, I haven't opened any of your links. Not because I don't think it's worth it but because I want to keep it in the "eden's garden" territory rather than to bring it into the supermarket's shelf But it's not a critique, I just wonder if I'm alone in this.

You’re not alone. I enjoy dissecting music I love, especially when I am learning to play it, but there is a limit. Hearing the same music 40+ times by great, mediocre and subpar performers as has been posted in this thread can quickly turn a favorite piece into a shunned piece. I’m afraid this Ballade has lost its shine for me after this thread.; I hope I can restore my feeling for it; I know I will need to refrain from listening to it for a very long time so that it can possibly move out of the mundane category. Be glad you ignored the recordings.

And, another new performance recorded at an upright piano:

Pianist Sehun Kim is performing the 4th Ballade:

Wibi Soerjadi performs the 4th Ballade in a very deliberate and slower tempo:

New recording (May 8, 2021) by Sergio Tiempo:

@CybergGene: the more one analyses one's favourite music, the more one tends to lose the magic of it, at conservatory I had to dissect the 4th symphony by Brahms and the 'Verklärte Nacht' (transfigured night) by Schoenberg, it created a distance between me and those wonderful masterpieces, it took more than a decade to reconcile me and the music, who is it who said: 'one doesn't learn the magic of sound by cutting open the throat of the nightingale'?

Earl Wild is performing all four (4) Ballades -- dating from 1990:

[Message below copied over to other forum threads]

[Final note to all forum members]

Today, i.e., May 19th, happens to be my 62nd birthday (born 1959) and will be now turning myself in to the moderators to permanently ban the current account since I have had multiple previous aliases in the forums over the years that include:

1) mypianos4evr
2) gp86_2020
3) gp84
4) ycdp88
5) yammyp515
6) amc1976
7) ag-n2
8) grand_BB_71

Not sure if I have located all of the previous accounts however my original forum name was "pv88" -- (pianovirtuoso88) -- and, real name is Richard / Rick for those who might remember my permanently banned account which had ended in the "Physis Piano" digital piano thread, here:

Physis Piano

My forum membership as "pv88" goes back to August, 2010, and the account was permanently banned on April 11th of 2016 at the very end of the "Physis Piano" thread, above. Since 2016 have taken the eight (8) other accounts in order to continue reporting all of my digital and acoustic piano purchase history.

To be frankly honest I am now simply too OLD at this point to continue playing games here and breaking and/or evading the stated forum rules by taking alias accounts as I now will be reporting myself to be banned for a final time. My apologies go out to all forum members that I know and also the moderators including the very well spoken of owner, Frank Baxter.

This is now a bittersweet ending although the forums have also allowed me to share a lot of great info with many people, here. Have learned quite a lot along the way and in resigning here my only regret may be that I have settled for owning a fairly decent 7-foot Mason & Hamlin "BB" grand when there are obviously better concert grands out there to be found.

Not sure if a concert grand will ever be in the cards for my given situation although perhaps in the next 10 years (if I am still around at 72 yrs. of age) might consider the ultimate sized grand should I decide to MOVE to a larger house that would more easily accommodate it.

Enough said for now -- therefore, goodbye -- everyone!

And, here is a very nice performance by Nikolay Khozyainov:

what is the problem?