Chopin is my composer. I have no lack of maturity, at least in Chopin. I think I understand him really well. Just don't ask me to play Bach!
So you have sufficient emotional heartaches from your life that you can tap into while performing the 4th Ballade? Do you know the history of the piece? Why Chopin wrote it the way he did? What was happening in his life during the time the 4th Ballade was composed? The social context of the Ballade in the 1800's? Etc etc
Also for the record, by maturity i mean maturity in years. The 4th Ballade has a deeper more meaningful place in Chopin's writing style and was an insight into his later years. It does not contain the youthful and passionate side we see in the Piano Concertos, yet it possess a certain maturity itself and it one of the greatest works of Chopin during his later years as his outlook and perception of life changed. In order to perform this work well, you need to have experienced this same perceptive change that occurs as you grow older. At 20 (my current age) i know i could not do this work justice as i still possess a youthful and optimistic outlook on life, not the mature reflective view of an aging man dying of TB. That is something you cannot relate to yet, hence my advice not to perform this work.
Music performance, especially at University is about making an emotional connection to your audience, making them feel particular emotions that you purposely convey through the music. If you don't have an intimate understanding of the music you perform, you cannot take the audience on an emotional journey and as a result your performance will be of a lesser quality because of this. In my experience, (current piano major at University) they are far more focused on musicality and how you personally interpret and deliver a piece, than the technical facility you possess, as technique can be taught, the true natural ability to communicate emotion through music can only be taught to a certain extent.
Also the fact you say "Don't ask me to play Bach" is an immature comment in itself. Bach is probably the single most influential and ingenious composer to have ever lived, and you have just dismissed him. Sorry but that is a lack of maturity. Secondly you clearly don't understand music history if you so readily dismiss Bach. Chopin himself idolized Bach more than any other composer and you need only look at Op 10#1 to see this. If Chopin was truly your composer, you would know that ,any ideas he took directly from Bach, and therefore you would play alot of Bach to gain a deeper appreciation for how Chopin took these traits and developed them to new creative peaks. The 24 Preludes is a prime example, as Bach's WTC was the first volume work to have pieces in all 24 keys and Chopin directly uses this invention (no pun intended) of Bach's and adds an emotional depth to it.
Don't take this post as an insult of any kind as that is not it's intention. I'm simply advising you and attempting to explain, why you should carefully select a work you can in some way relate too.
Topic: Chopin's Fourth Ballade Sheet Music