Chopin Ballade 1 in G minor Op 23 (Stuart & Sons piano)

[@ctnski]

Absolutely stunning in all respects: piano, performance, recording, and especially composition. One of the greatest pieces ever.

[@leathammusic]

Grzegorz Kinda was born in Poland. He trained in Poland and has a Masters Degree in the music of Chopin and Liszt. He is the most recent in a long line of Polish concert artists who have been playing Chopin for over 100 years. Grzegorz opened the Chopin 200th Anniversary Concert in Sydney in 2010 to the acclaim of the Polish Ambassador. Maybe you need to listen a little more closely to how he plays Chopin. Grzegorz has a double CD available, available from the iTunes link above.

[@luki5650]

Moc przyjemności i pięknych emocji.Te dźwięki hipnotyzują i przenoszą w inny wymiar. Dziękuję za ucztę dla duszy i piękne wzruszenia. Wielki szacunek dla Pana.

[@mstalcup]

Love how he adds an extra G in the bass at the very end of the piece. It just sounds natural that way - adds the right amount of power to the finish. This is not possible on the piano of Chopin's time or on a modern piano with only 88 keys.

[@chidlers99]

Bravo! a masterful performance. I loved the presto section.

[@osnet1]

I always go back to this rendition - breathtaking

[@damianc80]

Amazing sound! I'm in awe of this piano and Gregory Kinda. What a master!

[@joedirte1029]

Wow - well done! Love this ballade - and he infuses it with power as well as tenderness. Bravo.

[@Brickybearable]

This is AMAZING!!!...the thing's so clear and devoid of the bland and muddy sounds we're used to. Heavens, the lower registers are SO damn clear, sustained and accurate!!!!

[@kimbartlett01]

Perfection. The Presto con Fuoco is the best I have heard to date! Fantastic sound quality in this video as well.

[@dmang1000]

A superb piece matched with a magnificent performance!

[@ProBIONICLEStudio]

O-M-G... This is the best interpretation of this ballade I've ever heard. This man is VERY talented. I think he would make a great career. He is just amazing!

[@edwardyeeks]

Wow, I simply love the way the piano can sound absolutely intimate in the soft and slow parts of the song like a Bosendorfer yet is able to project such a powerful sound and tone like a Steinway in the faster and louder parts. And this performance of the Ballade is nothing short but superb! Bravo, and what a piano! :)

[@AlecNicholson]

Thank you so much for uploading this. Spectacular playing from the pianist, of course, but the instrument itself is just an object of wonder. I hope I am able to hear one in person some day (hoping to play one might be a wish too far haha!)

[@MagicDonDino]

What a fire playing!! Superb!

[@Hervinbalfour]

The sustain in this piano is amazing!

[@jhagedon]

Bravo! Brilliant performance and superb piano. Such clarity!

[@Maggoony]

fantastic performance!

[@Imaginasercasilisto]

Brilliant interpretation, thanks you

[@catherinekyngdon327]

Absolutely brilliant.

[@curcubeu2008]

Bravo! Votre interpretation est magnifique! Bonne chance!

[@Xemptuous]

My goodness. You have overtaken Zimmerman for the best performance of the Ballade no. 1 Congratulations on one of the most, if not THE most sincere and truly felt interpretations of this piece.

[@musikshane]

Horowitz performance i think is the greatest

[@0blacone]

That piano is astonishing! Absolutely gorgeous, the performance matched that piano very well :)

[@unkastacky]

Bravo! Fantastic performance. I came looking for a recording of the Stuart piano and found it in most worthy hands!

[@landocommando8]

This is my favorite performance.

[@landocommando8]

It seems like no matter how good you are there's always a critic. ha I have to say, this is by far my favorite performance of this piece! I think this was even better than Zimerman's performance, which is also on youtube. Bravo!

[@vinsgraphics]

Stuart & Sons, made in Australia. They make a 108-key piano which my son is currently obsessed with. The only reason he’s interested in going to Australia (where I’m originally from); we’re in the US.

[@MomeRathsandMoochers]

Your son's going to really like the next model......................😉

[@PianoIsTheRemedy]

Great quality of recording. Bravo!!!

[@saxabass]

Wow. Incredible. I think I'm going to go learn piano now...

[@brygida44]

świetny pianista, fantastycznie gra, rewelacyjny instrument.Dziękuję Panu za piękne chwile, które przeżywam słuchając muzyki w Pana wykonaniu. "Muzyka - to jest wyłom, przez który dusza, jak więzień z więzienia leci czasem w regiony wolności. Muzyka - to córa wszystkich muz.'Stefan Żeromski

[@gainweighttoday]

wow. pianis and piano, both fantastic!

[@Xiryaa]

Sooooo beautiful!

[@johndlin88]

so beautiful !

[@IsaacOLEG]

Adam, it is the piano plus the miking, plus the church that gives that result. The tone is very immediate and the sustain is enlighted by the room acoustics, hence that lower dynamics you noticed too.

[@dal022]

Excellent use of the low G to bring closure to the piece.

[@Calin1000]

A very interesting piano sound. Quite bright but I like it. And nice playing!

[@E.R.U.42]

LOVE IT !!!!!!!!!

[@soundknight]

Wow, it's like the best qualities of the Steinway style and the Austrian Grand put together. There's a rich midrange attack like the SW and a warm enveloping mush in the bass.

[@ABEL_ROJAS_AREVALO]

Excelente!!. gracias por compartir esta joya =)

[@jameskey4633]

Adam Parker's comment is hilarious-Gregory Kinda - Australian Concert Pianist. Trained in Poland, now living in Sydney. Chopin specialist and available for recitals.

[@kyaume21]

xdloner's comment is equally hilarious. He was such a wonderful piano teacher, he changed me into a clarinet and now he is playing me all the time. And then puppydogstails: ever since Chopin expired has there been no matching recording (and how I am now frantically looking for Chopin playing his Ballade on KZbin, can you help?)

[@rjgarnett]

Phenomenal

[@johndlin88]

Bravo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ChpinisGod]

Excellent performance! Is it Stuart & Sons piano? His tone is beautiful!

[@leathammusic]

It is well worth a trip to Newcastle to meet Wayne Stuart and play a few of his unique instruments. Did you also watch Igor and Olga playing Brahms on my piano?

[@leathammusic]

Could you post the link to your own performance please?

[@romulomarianne2499]

Wow that was cool.

[@ann03071874]

Good stuff :D

[@steinway1414]

I’m a Steinway fanatic . But this is as good if not better . It’s tone is almost identical . I’m officially a Stuart fan now

[@brygida44]

znakomite wykonanie, przepiękny dźwięk instrumentu

[@Bafrgty]

I did my HSC music performance in this church. Didn't get to use the piano though.. Damn.

[@InFiNiTyQuAnTuM01]

Apparently this is beating Steinway&Sons sound!It is the best!

[@cobyjay7607]

That's because Steinway seems to act conservative in design and shy away from innovation. The Stuart and Sons is pretty innovative in that their strings resonance lasts very long due to how the strings contact the bridge. However, Stuart and Sons should truly consider putting in a Wessel, Nickel, and Gross carbon fiber action in their pianos to greatly improve note-to-note precision/accuracy/consistency.

[@MetaView7]

Steinway has always been innovative. They hold more patents than all the other piano makers combined. Having said that, it does not mean other piano makers have no innovation.

[@FreddyChoppins]

Kinda is kinda good.

[@rangerscoach]

looks like your dealing with backseat youtube pianists!! I just came here cause I heard that we make a decent piano in Australia.

[@grantc4516]

you're

[@Abbathsin]

An exclusive piano with a hater owner

[@dragonslayer77777777]

The one dislike is the person that wants this piano and cant afford it.

[@euquiassilva8707]

What is the function of the fourth pedal? Can someone explain, please?

[@leathammusic]

+Euquias Silva The 4th pedal moves the hammers closer to the strings, as happens on upright pianos. This takes the edge off the sound. I use it a lot when accompanying singers rather than half closing the lid.

[@euquiassilva8707]

leathammusic Thank you very much for your quick and informative answer ! God bless you!

[@IsaacOLEG]

Very particular tone alimentation due to the agrafes, it does not seem to help on timbral manipulation, however, as we find the string "imprint" so present in in each note. In the end the piano is probably a little too much "efficient" .The more I think of it the more I am persuaded that the tone "playeability" is hidden in piano "deects" (from a design point of view. Must be pleasing to play... going toward the organ there... thanks for the sample

[@jjaus]

Bollocks.

[@OE1FEU]

There are no agraffes beyond the copper wound bass strings in this piano. Any non-copperwound strings are run through a capo d'Astro, which makes it really rich in overtones. Unfortunately the piano has been tuned really badly and the voicing is way too shrill.

[@MomeRathsandMoochers]

@@OE1FEU Which note sounds most out of tune to you? I've spotted one obvious note.

[@danielfernandez9356]

i didn't say i could play it better, I'll be open to hear the critics when i upload my interpretation

[@PeterJohnston]

No offense to the person who edited this video, but they've completely screwed the synchronisation of the video and the audio in many scenes and should have been sacked. Having said that, the performance is quite remarkable. I'm currently learning this, and was quite pleased with this performance. I think the only thing that's a little off-putting is seeing the extra keys on the piano. SOUNDS GREAT though, except for that exceptionally Low G - that was horrid.

[@horaciomillan4181]

The performance is superb. One of the very best I,'ve heard. But the instrument not so much. It seems overcharged and harsh. Too agresive, though it is very well prepared and in perfect tune.

[@Mark959]

There's one note very noticably out of tune. Listen around about the 1 minute mark.

[@ethositachi]

It doesn't take a baker to tell if the bread is fresh.

[@nickthegreek142857]

excellent coda

[@DavidButterworth202]

Superb! You need to be 'well built' to play with such command, in my opinion. He reminds me of John Ogdon in this respect.l

[@DavidButterworth202]

The late British pianist, John Ogdon died in 1989, aged 53 (I think).

[@gaelgarcia7000]

8:04 That …

[@DJSI3434]

7:46!!

[@DJSI3434]

+DJSI3434 and 5:12

[@jtc1947]

Maybe it's the acoustics? Sounds a bit too bright and metallic for CHOPIN?

[@danielfernandez9356]

you'll see, once you master the technique of this peace, you're not done, there is another difficulty, you have to give yourself time to understand wich feelings you must accentuate in each phrase, i'm still in that phase and i will not upload a performance till i'm pleased with the interpretation. I'm sorry if I offended you, but your answer to adam annoyed me, because music isn't about who has more awards.

[@jjaus]

Five years later, all we have is a Bach excerpt......

[@robbiethemann]

can't stand this piece but he played it extraordinarily well!

[@jimp4170]

I think I'd like the sound of this piano better in modern Russian music. I like that it has a unique sound, but I feel it's too steely for music like Chopin's. I have a friend who owns an exquisite 1930s Pleyel and you'll never want to hear Chopin on anything else.

[@chidlers99]

he's kinda good...

[@3NUNS]

Silly-willy !

[@adamparker8850]

nice piano nice performance although he totaly he ignored the dynamics in the manuscript.i get the feeling he dosent play alot of chopin

[@mateki]

Play good,but I don't like this piano sound too bright and heavy.Maybe it suitable for Jazz??!!

[@nikky8cookie]

he's mu uncle

[@szilike_10]

Truly beautiful sound, but too bright for me....

[@willemvdr12]

Is it just my ears, or DOES this piano sound a hell of a lot like a Bösendorfer?

[@grantc4516]

You'd not know unless you heard it live. Through internet speakers, it sounds tinny.

[@lt1caprice57l]

I'm sure it would sound somewhat similar in person, with 102 keys, the soundboard in this thing is huge. It will sustain much longer than a Bösendorfer, though. (Or anything else, for that matter.)

[@MomeRathsandMoochers]

@richardharrold9736 I think Yamahas produce the most satisfactory amount of warmth................if you burn them!

[@MomeRathsandMoochers]

@richardharrold9736 Best to be on the safe side and burn them all!! Yamaha have really put their prices up since I owned one about 12 years ago.

[@MomeRathsandMoochers]

@richardharrold9736 You're probably right. I remember the CFSIII being sold new for £49,999. Perhaps Yamaha has indeed shaken off that "cheaper alternate to a Steinway" status. I've not played any of the new CFX range, so can't really comment fairly - I'll postpone any piano burning until I've done more research!!

[@kyaume21]

Good, but a bit too much rubato for my taste. The piano is good (with or without pianist).

[@danielfernandez9356]

I don't care about his career, his tittles or his polish blood line, you don't need that to play chopin, and adam is right he ignores dynamics. You can't play chopin without adding something yours, that's what make the difference between interpretations And I érsonally dislike this one, and here is why: The notes from the right hand did not came out clearly in 2:36 to 2:38, in the following phrases he doesn't respect calando When the coda comes he plays fast and confusing

[@jasperpabroa4737]

It's too bright in lyrical parts...the hammers are hard tough I guess...the sound is ear piercing in my taste

[@leathammusic]

We changed the microphone setup for the next video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKbUfZ-Ve5mlec0

[@xdloner]

This guy use to be my piano teacher. I quit and did clarinet :(

[@grantc4516]

Why?

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

The quality of sound this piano produces is simply breathtaking. But Chopin's chops are boring; I would wish to hear some Beethoven's music played on this amazing instrument.

[@them9dij455]

Zvonimir Tosic Funny cause Beethoven wouldn’t even be able to hear the sound of this amazing piano.😂😂😂 This song is my masterpiece and you are a disgrace.