Posted this on the rate my recording on the r/piano subreddit and figured I might post hit here and see what y'all thought too.

Chopin’s dying wish was that his heart be sent back to his native Poland rather than buried with the rest of his body in his adopted home of Paris. And what is family for if not to deliver on such requests? Chopin’s sister, Ludwika Jędrzejewicz, plucked out his heart before his interment, then smuggled it to Warsaw in a jar of booze. Placed beneath the city’s Holy Cross Church, the heart became a point of pride for Polish nationalists, so much so that the Nazis took it during World War II to weaken the country’s morale. (Thankfully, Germany returned it after the war.)
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/preserved-body-parts-around-the-world

Have you visited?

Chopin s’est tu.

Certaines âmes ne disparaissent pas. Elles restent suspendues dans ce qu’elles ont créé.

Cent soixante-dix-sept ans plus tard, sa musique respire encore, fragile, intime, éternelle.

Il nous laissa une musique capable de dire ce que les mots ne savent pas exprimer.

divine over the earthly
laughter over suffering
love over imprisonment
defeated all evil

Interpretação interessante do pianista brasileiro Arthur Moreira Lima, 2° colocado no concurso internacional de piano Frédéric Chopin, em Varsóvia (1965) — evento que teve como ganhadora Martha Argerich. Gravação datada do ano de 1987.

Ok, in the case of firsts competitions (1-7), wikipedia was useful to find the complete list.

But... Does anyone have a file or document where I could find these lists (VIII to XV)? Books or the official program books from those editions would be very helpful as well. Newspaper coverage or contemporary press reports, if any exist, would also be a great help. Perhaps I'm asking for too much, but I hope someone just as obsessive as I am might be able to help me out! :) Have a wonderful day, kind reader.

I heard it for the first time in May. I thought this ballade was cursed, because every time I listened to it I felt depressed and hopeless. The climax was so intense, that I couldn't atop thinking about it in my head. I reckon this piece is one of the most touching, deep and incredible work of his genius.

It's not that popular as first ballade is, but I have to admit it's nothing in comparison to the third one.

While the 1st ballade is cheerful and hopeful, the 3rd is at some point mysterious, heartbreaking, breathtaking(literally i felt that way). I was so impressed by feelings I experienced, that at some point I thought Chopin understood me and I understood him. Even though it seems a bit depressive, but it's a story about inner struggle with happy ending.

I wonder what people think about this ballade. Has anyone experienced the same? I would really like to hear your story and what impressed you more.

P.S. I write poetry in Ukrainian( cuz I'm Ukrainian)

I was really impressed by this piece. I'll leave it here, maybe some Ukrainians will read it and give their thoughts.

Арфа

У полі вкритим кришталем,

‎Біля підніжжя гори крижаної

‎Розбився табір мандрівний,

‎Любителів пригоди страшної.

‎

‎На ранок почалася казка.

‎Пішли аматори в похід.

‎Не врятувала навіть каска,

‎Білява лавина зробила свій хід.

‎

‎Вершину цю ніхто не підкорив.

‎Лиш вітер доторкнувся піку.

‎І навіть Еола сильний порив

‎Розбився об камінь поважного віку.

‎

‎

‎З'явилась у полі самотня душа.

‎Затьмарила розум таємнича імла.

‎І там вдалині, у тому тумані,

‎Виднілося сяйво, то кличе гора.

‎

‎І вже іде душа підйомом.

‎Тяжіє серце, крок і крок.

‎Свистять вершини й вітер хором,

‎Аж пробирає до кісток.

‎

‎Не місце смертним в царстві льоду.

‎Пани тут страх, байдужість й гнів.

‎Вони уб'ють, лиш дай нагоду.

‎Ніхто їх ще не переміг.

‎

‎Пускають пару дрижачі легені,

‎І тіло падає на сніг.

‎Пробивається сяйво в очі блаженні.

‎Припала надія до самісіньких ніг.

‎

‎І б'ється всередині холодна натура:

‎"Треба вставати, треба іти..."

‎Регоче в лице крижана завірюха,

‎Розриває сніжинками його на шмати.

‎

‎І розум сповнений безумством,

‎І кров стікає на чолі.

‎Кому потрібні хижі гори?!

‎Їх не здобудеш на коні!

‎

‎І от в таємному світінні

‎Постав небесний силует.

‎Душа в безмежному тяжінні

‎Танцює справжній менует...

‎

‎

‎Настав жаданий час тріумфу,

‎Рознесе цю славу Еол поміж гір.

‎Історію душі, що з'їхала з глузду.

‎А, може, долі страшний непокір?

‎

‎У полі вкритим кришталем,

‎Біля підніжжя гори крижаної.

‎Розбилася арфа у пошуках волі,

‎Її жвава пісня дограла в мажорі.

‎

‎

‎30.06.2026 р.                м. Ньюбері

‎

Recorded at the end of an exhaustive 17-hour workday to clean the insides.

Aswk Chopin has created four pieces of ballade, and all of them sound good. However, no.1 is my favorite in my opinion but if I shared my opinion on TikTok why am I getting called "larping" or being blamed hard if I point this out? Like why are we having superiority or saying ballade no.3 or 4 is your favorite piece and blaming these people who like the one u think is too general or too famous?

I genuinely cannot get this little run to work at all. So this is bar 12 of Chopin's Prelude in F Minor and this run is so difficult for me. For anyone who has practiced this prelude, do you have any tips on the fingering you would use. I have found a semi-competent fingering myself but every time I get to this measure I either have to slow down a bit or I just mess up and hit a few wrong notes. This is 17 notes in 1 BEAT BTW, obviously you can "rubato" it a bit though. Let me know thanks :).

Hello,
I'm wondering how feasible the Ballade no. 1 coda is for someone who has small hands (can only comfortably reach an octave (cannot stretch to a ninth))? I cannot find any videos of someone playing the piece with small hands; even the children that play it seem to have large hands T_T

If anyone could provide their opinions/any videos for reference that'd be great thanks :)

Thanks .

Thought some would enjoy this visual. I find it mesmerizing.

piano players/musicians, how do you guys play or prefer to hear the tempo for Fantaisie Impromptu's Section A & Reprise of Section A: allegro/allegro, allegro/presto, or presto/presto?

although the reprise section is typically written as played a bit faster than the first tempo, I've seen a great many interpretations use the same tempo for Section A and the Reprise.

no right or wrong here, just wondering which way is preferred listening/performing?

https://youtube.com/shorts/bhoRMFtBJ6Y

I was in a jazz cafe in the Netherlands and at the end of the night when most people left I went and sat behind the piano and played some Chopin. When I stopped, an older couple asked me to continue to play Chopin. They sat close by and the lady started tearing up.

Mind you, I am not that good and the piano was out of tune, but apparently this woman was from Poland and I don't know, he is like a national hero there (as it should be). I was so surprised that I could touch someone with his music like that, I am still in awe.

I played nocturne op 9 no 2, prelude op 28 no 13, mazurka op 67 no 3 and the berceuse. I love playing Chopin's music.

In my opinion it's nocturne no 19 in e minor op.72 no.1