I got inspired to write this post by the recent International Chopin Piano Competition held in Warsaw, Poland. Chopin’s four ballades are among the most beautiful of his works, and my favourites among the four have been shifting over the years. Currently, my favourite is Ballade No. 3 in A♭ major, Op. 47. Chopin dedicated it to his pupil Pauline de Noailles (1823–1844), and it is said to be inspired by Adam Mickiewicz’s poem Undine. I love this ballade for its sophistication and thematic shifts.
I love the interpretation of it by Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman (1956-), the winner of the IX International Chopin Piano Competition in 1975. Although his take is considered now quite restrained and conservative, I still prefer it over modern versions because the ballade already has quite a number of eccentric, expressive elements, and it is Zimerman’s understated precision that brings the best in it without overdoing it or distracting.
My second favourite ballade is Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, which is characterised by its contrapuntal nature. It masterfully brings together simplicity, harmony and hope, on the one hand, and complexity, dissonance and melancholic frustration, on the other. In my opinion, it is one of the subtlest works of Chopin, that sounds deceptively simple, but hides and soon reveals immeasurable depth and profound beauty.
I am sharing a performance of the ballade by Shiori Kuwahara (1995-), a Japanese pianist and the 4th prize winner at the recent International Chopin Competition. She performed the ballade during the 1st stage of the competition, and I just love how she handled the tension and suspense of the piece, drawing the maximum feeling from each note in the ballade’s main theme. Her very mature performance is characterised by the deep knowledge of the piece, and is probably one of the most emotional interpretations of this ballade I have ever heard (even if technically it may not be the greatest given the pressure of live performance during the competition).
I also previously shared Chopin’s music Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 and Waltz in A Minor, and also see my review of book Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times.
Thoughts on Papyrus 
I heard Maurizio Pollini perform these a few years back at Carnegie Hall. Chopin can be beautiful, emotionally profound or technically challenging, but his Ballades have a kind of intellectual and musical depth and profundity most similar to the late Beethoven sonatas. And nothing else in piano music I find quite equal to them.
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Oh, wow, hearing Maurizio Pollini at Carnegie must have been something! Yes, there is nothing equal to these works, and I agree about the parallel to Beethoven’s late sonatas. For me personally, even his middle period sonatas. It is also easier to feel at home within them than within a concert work.
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I read a profile of the Canadian Kevin Chen who was in this competition, and now I see he placed second. The article included several videos of his performances. I know next to nothing about classical music, but I found his performances mesmerizing! I will save these videos for my next work from home day.
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You are from Canada, right? Yes, Kevin Chen did well. I think I want to revisit his performances too now. His and Vincent Ong’s probably.
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Such a master! One of my favorites is Prelude No. 15, in D flat major.
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Very beautiful!
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