Chopin's Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23

[grantweep]

Hi all,

This song is probably super overplayed, but I decided to go for it anyways. I'm an amateur pianist and I am considering performing this piece at a university talent show. Just wanted to get a sense of whether or not I should go for this (This recording is a month old and I'm already starting to get a little rusty from not practicing, heh). And if so, if there are any tips/suggestions for my interpretation of the piece. Thanks in advance for any comments/feedback. I used two decent mics to record the audio, so it should be easy on the ears!

-grantweep

[jugular]

You still need to put a lot more work into the tehcnical aspects of this piece. There are parts which just sound plain sloppy, in particular the sempre piu mosso section, the piu animato section (preceded by the meno mossos section in A major), and the coda (con fuoco section). Notes are being buried and missed because you're struggling in these sections, and it prevents you from making them musically expressive. Once you grasp the technical challenges this piece demands you can pay attention to the musicality.

The arrival at the A major section in the meno mosso was beautiful. Your combination of an increase in tempo and dynamics accompanied by stronger accents made for a dramatic build up to the dynamic peak of the section.

Another thing I would add is that it's just too loud, especially when you arrived at the main theme. Go through the score again and really pay attention to dynamic markings, as they help guide you on how to make sections more expressive. This is especially important for the meno mosso section in Eb major (or the "slow"section). The volume was much too loud here, and you could have definitely taken more liberties with rubato. Watch this video of Arthur Rubinstein giving a short masterclass to a young piano player on Ballade No.1. There is much you can gain by watching this segment.