Sviatoslav Richter Plays Chopin Ballade No. 1, Op. 23

Esto es sobrenatural. Fuera de toda comparacion.

well Im not sure of every composer. I believe Chopin found earning money difficult at times and relied on recital making that he hated doing, but people raved about, evn Liszt. His first duty , was to teaching the piano. With these pupils he would have charged accordingly perhaps. Many of his works for his students to play and learn from. the art of a sensitive touch is a book in itself. We all need money to live. But a great musicain doen t choose his pathh.

I wonder how much the necessity of "selling music to the people" actually infuences the personal style and the ultimate creations of a composer. For some composers, I think it must be a pain to compromise. The public opinion can be wrong oftentimes. How terrible it must be for a genius to deal with the outside world!

first there must be strands or a single idea and very often a composer has fun developing these ideas. Genius is what separates for example Schumann from Andrew lloyd Weber, however the latter knows how to sell music to the people. and much of his music is very good, as was rachmaninovs.;0
There will and can not be another Chopin, . therefore too much questioning why but not how is not so good.

it is worth noting Chopin liked all rubatos to be planned in advance. almost part of the music perhaps just a breeze. If thisis true it must be from a harmonic point of view that slight rubatos are given. and tension points in the melody , however as a great teacher once said to me, rubatos must be there but never noticed.

ibclappin, what I meant by playing truthfully does not really require humility,but rather a sense of understanding the purpose behind the music. I think music is a very selfish endeavor of the composer to convey a sense of life, and it is up to the players to convey that same sense through their own interpretations. For me, humility can somewhat diminish that intended purpose. What if the music is about pride?

i'm very glad you wrote this comment pjioayncoe. Chopin's pieces are made to be played like they were written; they are already perfect. when a pianist lets his/her ego interrupt the humility required to deliver Chopin's music we end up with bad, or dare i say wrong, interpretations.

You should also note that once someone was playing a Chopin polonaise for Chopin himself. The performer played with such vigor that he broke one of the strings and immediately began apoligizing to Chopin; Chopin told him not to worry, and that if he had the physical stamina and strength to play like that, he would have.

yes!...

learn to write please

Not all music is about fire. You must note that Chopin himself never played above mezzo forte.

What a wonderful interpretation. So insightful and profound. It isn't how I play it, but it's a great interpretation of course.

does anyone have the video of this recording?

You don't have any credibility after you say things like "compare a Japanese...old school Russian or Slav." because obviously you are more interested in ethnicity than music. May I also point out that last year was the first time in about 20 years that a Polish pianist won the Chopin competition, so even in his homeland, non-Polish, Slavic, Russian (or whatever group you believe to be the superior) are fully respected. Grow up.

one of the best interpretations on Youtube. He can truthfully play this ballade, without being overly sentimental, whimsical, or robotic(unlike many others who think they can play it anyway they want). Friederike Müller, one of Chopin's student, had writen in her diary that Chopin," hated all lingering and dragging, misplaced rubatos, as well as exaggerated ritardandos ... and it is precisely in this respect that people make such terrible errors in playing his works."(wiki)