Krystian Zimerman - Ballade No 1 in G minor, Op 23 • Frédéric Chopin [HQ] Reaction! 

I am a pianist who is actually going to perform this piece for a university audition next week and I must say that I learnt something out from your reaction to this composition & performance. You reminded me of my mom (who is not a musician either) a few weeks ago when she heard me practice this piece and told me that it deeply touches her heart and soul... I laughed so hard when you were confused about many notes Zimmerman memorized haha At some level and at some stage of performance, you don't think about notes anymore when performing or even when reading a score... The same way stand-up comedians don't think about letters they say on stage. Chopin's music and his ballades in particular are really not about how many notes or how fast your fingers can go... It's about storytelling and taking your listener through a deeply emotional journey.

He is one of the best concertpianist in the world. He makes love with the panio. Chopin lived in the 1800. This peace comes from that time. He was a great composer.

Chopin composed this masterpiece at 21. Such a young age to bring together as many emotions as pain,sorrow, grief but also joy in a single piece in perfect harmony. I won’t lie to you.Ballade no 1 is the piece that made me want to discover the world of classical and romantic music. I’m 16 years old, and because of this piece, I just learned that telling a story doesn’t have to be with words. Hope someone feel similar.

Love when people are amazed at the beauty of classical music especially people who aren’t already exposed to it already

It's actually pretty rare for a professional musician to have to expend effort specifically to memorize a piece, at least one of this difficulty. Getting a piece to performance standard involves a ton of polishing. Settling on a coherent interpretation and perfecting the phrasing and intonation enough to realize it usually takes way longer than just learning the notes. By the time this process is finished, the performer will have invested so much time and thought into the piece that they'll have memorized it naturally.

This is the best music of all times

In classical piano you really do have to put your whole body into because some passages call for that. To memorize piano pieces you have to practice and practice until you obtain that muscle memory and I would say auditory memory for memorizing the sequences of the note.

OP is short for opus, which is latin for work. Opus 3 is the third work (project if you will) of that artist.

The memorization element is actually one of the least things pianists have to worry about since it comes with time as you practice. There are pieces that are way longer than this and can even be longer than an hour long! Welcome to classical music ;)

Like you get pictures in your head listening to this, he has pictures in his head when playing, so that's how a pianist can remember all those notes. Like a story which has formed itself during years of study of probably at least 4 or 5 hours a day...

Not only playing this, but can you imagine composing something like this (no software, no aids, nothing!)?? Art and genius on another level, ppl like Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, etc. This is complex artistic work, that reaches deeper emotions even soul. Compared to "art" today in pop culture, this is far more advanced. We may have more advanced technology nowadays, but trust me, artistically and culturally they were far more advanced/complex & intelligent 200+ years ago...this is the heights of Western civilization artistic achievements that will continue to last the test of time. Our "(f)art" nowadays is fairly dumbed down, even regressive (thanks to postmodernism mediocrity), compared to these masterworks from centuries ago.

This is a perfect example of what all the people who say „I don’t like classical music“ are missing.

7:33 ballade is french and translates into "a small walk through the park". you got it right haha

Well he is a master concertpianist. Very high level. Few ever reach that level.

Ive been playing the piano since i was 10 years old.I am 20 now and i am currently learning this piece. I must say the piano is the best invention , manking has ever created💜Also you are awesome!

2 years late, but as a classical pianist, i love this video and similar ones you've done. don't know if you'll ever read this but it's very entertaining.

I love seeing non musicians react to classical music. I love seeing what they are missing out and hopefully continue to see these extraordinary pieces that pure out emotion and not let classical music die.

He says in the beginning that he is not a "music person" for not knowing the opus number but he really gave this Chopin ballade a shot. He picked out minute details only us piano practioners would notice and demonstrated that he is, truly, a *music person* indeed. I love to watch these reaction videos where genuine people listen to classical for the first time and truly enjoy it. It's really great. Ps. If you liked this piece, the same pianist performs the other three ballades very good, as well as Schubert's impromptu(s).You should also give a chance to some Beethoven sonatas such as "Tempest", "Waldstein" and "Apaasionata" PS. Chopins 4rth ballade must be one the best compositions ever written for any keyboard instrument 😉

It makes me so happy to see the appreciation you show for the piano

I just visited Chopin's tomb last Thursday, it was such a special moment, he's one of my favourite composers if not my favourite. Great reaction man , I really enjoyed the video

More Zimmerman playing Chopin: just to see your facial expressions! Lovely, enjoyed it…❤️🌷❤️🌷🌷

Oh God, PLEASE MORE OF THESE VIDS!!! Chopin especially! THANK YOU!!

Beautiful! His hands are like playing butterflies.

I strongly recommend ballad no 2 by Frederic Chopin played by either Zimmerman or Traum piano

Omg cant believe u actually reacted to this my favourite piêc

When he got surprised at the trill at 3:10 I could tell he would be in for a treat, when he was taking about the kids walking through the park at 8:20 it is a story, because ballade means a story Chopin (show pan) said you must listen to a ballade from start to finish

I love your reactions to classical music. You are quite a sensitive person.

Welcome to classical music. This is a fantastic world full of mesmerising music. Your face was a picture as you listened to this piece. Your choice of Chopin was excellent, thank you. If you fancy another trip into classical piano this is a gem: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0-czNkyPQDA.html Your heart will sing... as your brain melts!

I listen to this entire song every day at least. It's a song that never gets old. It can make you feel so many different emotions in every section. It's a true masterpiece. Once our piano is tuned this is the song I am going to make my way to learning. I will probably cry when I do finally get to the level where I can learn it.

You can also check out anna fedorova's piano concerto no.2 (ii. adagio). It as a whole piece is very long you can divide each movement ( basically parts like i, ii, iii) to different video. My favouritr is ii.adagio. It is a mesmerizingly beautiful piece There are timestamps to each movements under the comments

The hardest thing for a classical musician is not to learn and memorize the piece. The hardest part is actually feel it, understand it inside of us and listen to it and that’s what makes a great pianist (musician). As I like to say as a classical pianist : we do not play music, we listen to it. A musician that plays music sounds robotic, harsh or boring but a musician that listens and understand the music is absolutely beautiful.

The moment he pronounced opus as “op”, I knew he wasn’t a frequent classical music listener lmao

Certainly one of the best songs I listen to usually friends make fun of me for listening to classic songs(quiet kid in the class) but what do they know?😌 i always remember the opening sequence of the movie “Pianist” where Adrian Brody played this song in the beginning and the end of the movie

ABout memorizing all those notes. It's about muscle memory and keeping the music somehow in your head. At some point when you practice, notes will come out of your fingers, but you have to imagine the sound you want to give in your head. When you listen and practice a piece a thousand times, at some point you just know the notes. Human brain is a mystery but a true gift :)

Like most professional classical pianists, he has hundreds (if not thousands) of different pieces memorized. They usually only use music when accompanying another musician (like a singer, violinist, cellist, etc.) or playing in a chamber music group, mainly on the possibility the other musician gets lost and they have to quickly react. But it’s still as impressive to me as it is to you, even though I’ve played piano my whole life.

"Remembering all the notes is just as important as remembering which piano stool you started the piece on." - F. Chopin 11:33

i loved your genuine reaction!

You definitely should react to Adam Gyorgy's interpretation of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Liszt.

8:15 the way you describe his playing is the best I've heard from classical trained and not ...

Martha Argerich performing Rach 3 please?! It’s only a 40 min vid ;)

It's always wonderful to see how a non musician will react to a true musician. Not these "so-called:" artists today who probaly don't even know how to read music. Yes, this piece is beautiful, I am a pianist and was supposed to be one of the best but I did not like the fame at an early age so I only decided to teach talented students when I saw them. Yes, I was very selective of who I taught. I have not played this piece but Chopin is my favorite composer, I play a lot of his Waltzes and Nocturnes. I have heard this piece and today I will find the music to buy for this and learn this piece because I always like it but never knew what it was named. So I thank you for expanding my musical selection with this piece. I will have to find the Ballades book of Chopin now, shouldn't be too hard to find. BTW, as a musician, once you play the piece long enough and learn to master it, it becomes part of your memory in case you wanted to know how you memorize a piece like this. It's more the process of learning it and the mind is the most wonderous thing on earth of it's capabilities

This has to be my favorite channel in RU-vid. I appreciate you!!

Chopin is so amazing, best ever.

Absolutely on point, a ride

I love those type of reactions from the non professional pianist love it

Not sure if it's been said already, but not only did he play this piece from memory, but he also played the other 3 Ballades immediately after this one. Maybe a break was involved, but still...you can't memorize a Ballade on a break.

Chopin (Show-pan) wrote very complicated stuff...notice...the guy's playing it from memory.

Bro was Flabbergasted

I played “waltz in b minor No.2 by Chopin” for a recital and I played without any sheet music

Nice, you chose the literal best cover of this song, which is also my favorite song

You should watch this exact piece of music in the movie the Pianist, its the scene with the German officer. Just incredible!

Fredreek show-pan

I really like this piece it has everything in it. Drama, Sensability, tempochanges,a journey... First came into contact with this specific piece through the brilliant short programmes to this music by figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu. He so lives the music in the performances it's been breathtaking for me. Imagine trying to edit this beast of a piece down to 2:50min...they did a brilliant job with it though. If one doesn't know the whole piece one wouln't really notice the cuts (at least it was that way for me and I normally do notice cuts if they don't fit)... If you haven't sean it yet do give yourself the chance a go watch a few of the SP versions Yuzuru has done for Ballade 1. eg. this one from the 2018 Olympics ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-h-7rZ4G1f0w.html

The A major section might just be one of the best sections in all of music history😊

Krystian is the reincarnation of our beloved Frédéric.

He is playing and singing at the same time.

I love how he's genuinely appreciating the music and not just making pointless rambling comments

It is amazing about the human body and mind but memorising the notes comes naturally to anyone who plays. Muscle memory. However the correct technique to be able to play the hardest pieces doesn’t . And then musical interpretation is the thing that also differs so much. Just like personality.

Just for future reference, the name is pronounced more like “Show-pan”.

I would love to see your reaction to the other 3 ballades! I’m working on the second one, the third is a beautiful melody, and the 4th is by far the hardest

It's funny, the memorization part comes pretty naturally when you're learning the piece, you don't really have to expend any extra energy purposely trying to memorize it. It's hard to explain, but you're not really memorizing notes, it's a lot of muscle memory and your fingers kind of just know what to do. The only thing you're focusing on is conveying the emotion. If you were to ask me what notes I'm playing in the coda, I probably wouldn't be able to tell you, but if I sat down at a piano, I could play it. It's kind of like when you talk, you aren't remembering a sequence of muscle contractions in your mouth, or even on individual words you are going to say, you are just focused on conveying a message.

Imagine react to Ballade No 4

Did just say Frederik TSOPEN ?

I feel like he’s singing through piano.

You should try opera. Real opera, not the crap stuff, but real "hard core pedal to the metal" singing would blow your mind. It is like Dutch Death Metal cranked up to 11. You cannot believe how much sound comes out of one person's head. It is like having your head next to a high sensitivity speaker. I know. I coach them. I enjoyed your giving this a serious chance. Its for everyone who lets it into their mind because no matter how much virtuosity, at the end of the day its about communication. Its meant to be felt, not just evaluated, if you know what I mean.

Never pause the music

If you think this is nuts, watch someone perform Rachmaninoff's third piano concerto.

Would be greatttt if you could do Rachmaninoff piano concerto no. 3 op 30 allegro ma non tanto!!!

Does anyone else knows this song thanks to the anime "your lie in April"? For highly and everyone else I recommend to check it out

Its Fryderyk