Today I played Fryderyk Chopin's first ballade on an old, untuned Dutch RIPPEN piano from 1937.
You can see detailed photos of this piano in the video.

While watching "The Pianist", I was deeply moved by the scene in which Władysław Szpilman plays Chopin's 1st Ballade on an untuned piano among the destroyed buildings to the Nazi officer next to him, thinking that his life would end when he finished his performance. I was also deeply moved by the Nazi officer's sad lookings as he listened to Szpilman.

I tried to create the same emotional feeling by playing Fryderyk Chopin's first Ballade on an old, out of tune Dutch RIPPEN piano from 1937.

The ballade dates to sketches Chopin made in 1831, during his eight-month stay in Vienna. It was completed in 1835 after his move to Paris, where he dedicated it to Baron Nathaniel von Stockhausen, the Hanoverian ambassador to France.

After Chopin had visited Robert Schumann in Leipzig in fall 1836, Schumann wrote: "I have a new Ballade by Chopin. It seems to me to be the work closest to his genius (though not the most brilliant). I even told him that it is my favourite of all his works. After a long, reflective pause he told me emphatically: 'I am glad, because I too like it the best, it is my dearest work.' "

#chopin #piano #pianocover

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