Frederic Chopin - Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23
3,916 views · Published 2 May 2011 · 9:08 · Indexed 20 September 2026
This is a video from my student recital in May 2011. This is Chopin's first Ballade, and it's the piece that Wladyslaw Szpilman played for the German officer near the end of the 2002 film "The Pianist". My teacher considers it to be one of the greatest pieces ever written--she has actually told me that she believes every professional or serious pianist should learn and perform it. This is an incredible, epic piece, and is quite possibly the most difficult one I've ever performed - it's certainly the hardest one I've performed by memory. I've been working on this piece for almost a year now. The nerves got the best of me during the fast parts and I rushed through them more than I should've, but I do feel like I had some good parts, and I was happy enough to get through the whole piece without any memory lapses. This is still one of my favorite pieces of all time, and I am very proud to have prepared it and performed it by memory. Maybe someday I'll learn the Second Ballade, but for now I'm working on the Fountain of the Acqua Paola by Charles Griffes.
