Hi to all. I`m new here at the piano forum and just finished reading the interesting thread on everyone`s favorites. I see that many people chose Chopin pieces. I`d like to know what others here think of Chopin. It`s so easy to fall in love with his music(and with him). So everyone please share your favorite Chopin pieces and why you like to play them.
Thanks,
Donna

My favorites to play are:

Prelude No. 4 in E minor
I love the somber mood of this piece. I play it almost every night.

Waltz Op. 70, No. 3 (D flat major)
This is a happy little piece, not to be confused with the Minute Waltz, which is also in D flat.

Mazurka Op. 17, No 4 (a minor)
A great piece with a middle section that goes into A major, the part that was heard in the movie Empire of the Sun.

I also enjoy playing the Revolutionary Etude, but can only play the first page of it. I`m still working on it from time to time. I have to memorize it in order to play it.

The only Chopin piece I know and play is Nocturne Op.9 No.2 but I still love it so much, it has this strong feeling in the music... Now that`s what you call a gifted person. I should go and check your suggestions sometime soon!

Oh, and I do play this piece every day, about 2 times a day actually, or sometimes more!

Chopin is my favorite composer--many of his pieces are hard to learn to play well (emphasis on well), but they`re extremely beautiful.

Nocturne in C# Minor (Opus Posthumous)
Nocturne in F Minor (Opus 55 No. 1)<--the end part on this piece is beautiful
Polonaise in A Major (Opus 40 No. 1)
Waltz in D flat Major (Opus 64 No. 1)
Fantasie Impromptu (when I learn it fully)

im also a fan of chopin. right now im playing chopins etude "revolutionary", that is my nr 1 favorite(and wery challenging!).and i have a list of the rest of my favorites:

2. sonata no3 (final mov)
3. "raindrop prelude"
4. etude op10 no4
5. fantasie impromptu
6. etude op25 no 6
7. etude op 10 no 9
8. "black key etude" op.10no.5
9. etude op10 no7
10. "areolian harp" op25 no 1
11. nocturne op9 no 2

I have mp3 of all of these songs (some wma audio). if anyone want audio from any of these, send me an e- mail.

Prelude in E Minor is one of my all time favorite pieces to play and its definitely my favorite of Chopin.. it`s just so sorrowful and i love playing it at night it`s really a calming song to listen to

I recently got a cd of Chopin`s Nocturnes, and it`s pretty amazing, I use it with me to read or just relax.

It`s great to read everyone`s responses here. Interesting that some of you also like playing the Chopin pieces in the evening. Yes, very relaxing.

I like listening to the CD`s also. I especially love to listen to a recording of the preludes.

Donna

To RickitheFlautist,
Who is the performer on your CD? Artur Rubinstein is very good at Nocturnes.

I really enjoy playing Chopin`s G minor Ballade. Does anyone else?

trish, the perfomer`s name is Daniel Borenboim, I don`t know anything about him...

o, daniel barenboim! he`s really good - pretty old now..he`s also a conductor, started his professional career as a pianist when he was 7, etc, etc, etc And he aslo recorded the 32 Beethoven Sonatas

Hm, those two are really good, but in my opinion there`s none like Vladimir Ashkenazi!!! And he recorded in a church, so that adds to the loveliness of it altogether...

gimme a break with the revolutionary guys.... it only LOOKS hard because of the anger and tense feeling, but i played this piece with less than a few months of work(about 4-5)i play for fun since 5 years ago + i don`t even study the piano seriously(scales and such), AND i read like a damn turtle! so please don`t say that this piece is for virtuoso or something because it`s not.it`s too beautiful to be really tough!