4 Chopin Ballades - Lecture and Performance - Josh Wright

[@PaulBartonPiano]

Excellent lecture Josh and the 4 Ballades were tremendous.

[@lunar.6091]

PAUL

[@agamaz5650]

ikr lol

[@caseysheehan8437]

I love this! :)

[@peterbrenton410]

Tremendous performances .Deserved a standing ovation

[@heidialina]

Excellent - just wish there was video for the lecture too.

[@n0cturn3z]

The lectures were great and all 4 ballades were amazing. But the #2 and #4 ballades were just out of this world. Bravissimo

[@tommytodatnguyen1413]

The second ballad is actually very beautiful , it is most close to Chopin’s highest passion as you mention, Josh. The most misterous and tragic emotionally. The end of Ballad 4 rather an indication of joy mixed with tension but the very end is the saddest of them all. You have not the gifts of playing well but also the presentation ability and connectivity with the interest public

[@GrimCatPiano]

Brilliant man. That "Zimerman" hand moves ^_^

[@joshwrightpiano]

Thank you so much for your kindness

[@PiscesSenpai]

Dude, those were pristine. Wow.

[@joshwrightpiano]

+DarkAnima Thank you so much! I appreciate your support :)

[@felix_music]

Dude that 4th Ballade was perfect!

[@ТаняКрисБуая]

the 4 ballades played like that... and in front of a public... this is amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing. And honestly really nice interpretation. Wow!

[@PhillipLWilcher]

I am more than glad to have come across your insights, lecture/performance, Josh. I've been having a love affair with the 4th Ballade all my life. It appears to me the culmination of Chopin's creativity, given every aspect of technique addressed in his two sets of etudes is touched upon in the 4th Ballade. It's the Mona Lisa of music - yes? Incredible! You have an energy and elegance about you that communicates. Thank you again for the sharing. Blessings and best wishes!

[@PatriciaPeng]

I love your analysis of the 4 ballades so much. I am dedicating my first KZbin comment to this video

[@acediac1]

Great insights into the ballades, Josh, you've made me appreciate them so much more than I already had... I've just finished memorizing Ballade No.1, now you've made me want to learn the other 3.... :/ so much Chopin, so little time (and talent)... :S

[@antonygonzalez1672]

acediac have you learnt any of the other yet ?

[@zacksima8333]

yep, I've memorised the first three... fourth will have to wait

[@99Grigor]

Good musical instincts. In some ways, more interesting to listen to than those cookie-cutter competition pianists with too much technique and not enough soul. I think the hardest thing about performing ALL the Ballades in recital is to convey to the audience a sense of unity(if there is any) as well as each one being it's own little oasis or world unto itself. This can sometimes take years. Bravo! Nice performance all around.

[@acediac1]

I wonder, is it possible to attend similar PhD recitals at the local university as a member of the public? It would be fascinating to hear more of this type of in-depth analysis and recitals of music that I love from people who have spent a lot of time thinking about it. It's a travesty that the auditorium was not even half filled!

[@thegreenpianist7683]

last time I watched this video I didn't pay much attention for the second ballade, but my god your performance of it is amazing, your left hand bass from 50:17 onwards is just incredible

[@davidmfra]

This is gold, i wish there was more lectures like this one!! Great interpretations!

[@joshwrightpiano]

Thank you very much. I really love the Andras Schiff lectures on Beethoven. Have you checked those out?

[@davidmfra]

I have not, but now i am going to! Also you video on Rachmaninoff prelude in c#minor is a blessing, really helping me out, and made me approach music in a different way. Thank you so much!

[@mendellabkowski7828]

I watched Andras Schif's masterclass in Beethoven. Very insightful

[@mendellabkowski7828]

*on Beethoven

[@luisgraca]

Dude I can't imagine the mental stamina that's necessary to play the 4 ballades in a row. Massive respect!

[@marioaviles3837]

Well done Josh, I'm happy for you and drank every single note you played!

[@kilianbiermann8642]

That coda from the second ballade🤯🤯🤯🤯

[@amandagrey2255]

Ich finde Josh super! Es ist eine Faszination für mich, wie er alles erklärt und sein Wissen an uns weitergibt. Man merkt das Klavierspielen für ihn eine Leidenschaft ist. Ich werde immer ihre Beiträge folgen. Greetings from Austria.

[@SteveTruglia]

That's wonderful, bravo. Thanks for sharing so much on KZbin Josh.

[@mcrettable]

I actually love 1:09:29 how you start slow and speed that up.

[@derekpintozzi2498]

All 4 ballades?? This guy is insane!!!

[@magusl9628]

I absolutely loved ur video, both the lecture and the performance. I have watched old videos of urs and I can tell how much u ve grown musically. And ur still very young, many more Josh wright years to come! Keep up the good work! Thx for sharing this gem

[@magusl9628]

And I hope u record the ballades soon, as somebody else suggested in a comment

[@chopindabrahms8659]

Your unique and special interpretations brought us so many new phrases and melodies. It really made a difference in the world of piano. Thank you.

[@isaacgreenwood4230]

I realize I'm like five years late but that presto con fuoco from the first ballade was on point.

[@c720lpiano2]

The lecture was brilliant, along with the playing, I liked your ballade number 1 played here even better than the chopin competition

[@dansiebenthal7133]

Thanks for sharing. It was great to hear all 4 ballades back to back, and well done. I believe I saw your name on the Preliminary Round for the International Chopin Competition. I will be rooting for you.

[@mabeltung4889]

Thank you so much for the lecture and illustrations, it really is well done.

[@chairiffic]

What a wonderful achievement! Congratulations Josh! Fantastic playing!

[@lvbdevinelove2329]

What a spectacular video, and performance!! The crowd should of been 100x bigger, people don't even know what they are missing! Fascinating lecture on my alltime favorite and extremely difficult pieces. You performed them brilliantly!

[@vineow1631]

57:15 my favorite passage of all ballades

[@RobinLeGarsmeur]

Amazing work and performance ! 4th ballade is my favorite

[@novachromatic]

Genus! You brought out some hidden melodies that I've never heard before :D

[@ericlin4094]

Awesome! Can you do a video teaching the 4th Ballade? I also started playing the 4th ballade about a month ago. Thanks!

[@farispiano4892]

Good job Josh! I really like your insights and these videos you've been releasing lately. Keep up the great work!

[@chloeshen1184]

Thank you so much for posting! I am currently learning the third ballade in A-flat major. This video is really helpful.

[@wilsoncalhoun5708]

Did you successfully learn it?

[@deanliao1856]

Hold on, you learned the 4th ballade in 4 weeks? That's insane...

[@joshwrightpiano]

Dean Liao Hi Dean - I learned the notes to it 2 years ago, which took me about two weeks (it was still really rough). I just got back from the Chopin competition on March 4th and had to have this ready by the 27th for the performance...LOTS of long practice sessions and practice "run-throughs" for my wife, teacher, and friends. :)

[@deanliao1856]

Josh Wright Wow that's even more impressive, how long did it take you to learn memorize the 1st ballade if you don't mind me asking?

[@retrogamerdave362]

I learned it in 4 weeks when I was 17. It's a piece that grabs you and won't let go, that's how it affected me.

[@greenapple306]

Dean Liao it rly depends on how you practice it. Listening to the piece ur trying to learn on a cd or youtube helps

[@carlosjamarques]

Thanks for sharing another pearl of your knowledge with all of us!

[@joshwrightpiano]

Carlos Marques Thanks Carlos.

[@daafha]

Really nice and stable live performance, full of great intepretations. It's easy to follow your thoughts from the propractise videos. More of these!

[@joshwrightpiano]

daafha Thanks so much!

[@thegreenpianist7683]

Great work I really liked this Josh please keep up the good work !!! *thumbs up*

[@JonathanShSl]

Great lecture!! Thanks for posting it!

[@joshwrightpiano]

+JonathanShSl Thank you so much!

[@marcusvaldes]

Such a great lecture and performance. I love your music!

[@letszapago]

Excellent video Josh. Thanks for sharing.

[@pablo_tt]

This is wonderful, thank you Josh!

[@JonathanShSl]

Can you do more lectures? They help a lot!!

[@lucasgust7720]

1:35 A teacher of mine told me that they ARE based on stories, and he told me that the story is in any good biography of Chopin.

[@amateursoundz6262]

Thank you! I really enjoyed this!

[@biffii5568]

Would pay to watch this as well.

[@ahrjay3326]

Very accurate lecture. That No. 4 though..

[@patriciabretas2872]

Great, moving job!!

[@Orientaliszt]

I have trouble with left hand in Chopin. The right part is slightly easy with typical melodic shape but for bass parts there are so many notes that needs elephant's memory. How can you play them all from memory ? I figured by working hard, but perhaps you have a secret to find patterns of relationships between notes during learning. 4th Ballad is my favorite, congratulations.

[@Sunnyplayspiano]

seeing that you posted over 2 years ago, you probably got it. It would help a lot, if you can find PDFs of analysis papers/books/lectures for the piece you are working on. For example, if you're playing a staple piece in the Chopin repertoire (for example, Ballade no. 4) you can find many thesis papers online for the analysis, history, approach and technique of the piece. Some analysis papers can show you which tonality a section belongs to, and how the chords in both hands relate to that. If you understand the sections, their keys, the modulations, and the chords relating to the section, you get perfect memorization. It's not limited to just Chopin either. For example, I have about 3 or 4 Thesis papers/essays on Beethoven's Waldstein. I can tell you, that is tremendously helpful and deepens your understanding of how the piece functions. Of course, you have to practice to make it perfect. It's not a complete mind game.

[@metteholm4833]

Brilliant!

[@tinaswan1]

Bravo!!!!

[@calebbain9255]

51:24 - wow.

[@MusicAbsum]

A big thank you for this awesome video ! :)

[@joshwrightpiano]

You're welcome. Thank you very much for your support

[@YuchuWang-x2b]

Bravo

[@nicolaskruger4412]

Nice performance

[@pianomarius]

thank youuu :)

[@joshwrightpiano]

pianomarius You're welcome :) Hope you enjoyed it

[@duqueadriano0081]

Yeay

[@biffii5568]

video would've been amazing🙄