Carlo Zecchi plays Chopin Ballade no. 1 (1930 rec.)

Carlo Zecchi (1903-1984), probably Italy’s greatest pianist after Busoni, plays Chopin’s First Ballade opus 23 in G minor. Recorded in Moscow in 1930 (there are some distortions in the sound in louder passages). Painting of Zecchi by Pyotr Konchalovsky (1876-1956). In the 20s and 30s Zecchi (a student of Busoni) was very popular in Russia and he played in Kiev, Moscow and Leningrad. The original audio can be downloaded at this wonderful site: