For the Ballade no. 1, you must hear Josef Hofmann's version -- on The
Complete Josef Hofmann, vol. 2 (VAIA/IPA).
This set, the Hofmann Golden Jubilee concert of 1935 (or 1938) in Carnegie
Hall, also contains WONDERFUL versions of the Butterfly Etude (25 no.9) and
the Waltz in A flat majoOp. 42)
Allan Gotthelf