Hi Everyone,

Here is my interview with the Austrian pianist, Ingolf Wunder. An incredibly talented young artist who plays very well.

Enjoy, and as always, thank you very much for reading

http://www.examiner.com/piano-in-san-francisco/interview-with-pianist-ingolf-wunder

See? You can start the piano at 14 and still become a concert artist!! He says he only knew a little bit beforehand; he was probably just a beginner then!!--

Oh. Never mind.


-J

I have never seen any performance where the player looked happier or more ecstatic than Wunder's performance of the last movement of the Chopin Concerto at the Chopin Competition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKn6lPg_p...E722A4B807FE989

Thank you for reminding me of that extraordinary performance.

Thank you for sharing vlhorowitz. I always enjoy reading these interviews. Wunder was one of my personal favorites in the Chopin competition because he played with such deep emotion....

He also has a crazy Op. 25 No. 6 etude!

I really enjoy these interviews.

His performance of the concerto in the competition raised high hopes, but his first CD (for DG) was a bit of a disappointment: rather prettified and lacking in drive and verve, as if he was thinking of the consumptive and sickly Chopin only able to play the slow sections of his Ballades.....

One of my favorites so far! An interesting guy...

...or made it look so effortless -- wow, and bravo.

I'm assuming this is your personal review although you state it more as if it was a fact. The first half dozen reviews I read on a google search were close to unanimously rave. Wouldn't it be quite surprising if the same pieces that got his such favorable reviews in the Chopin Competition were played poorly a short time later?

Thank you all for reading. He's quite a phenomenal talent. I was really surprised to hear him say that Op. 25 No. 6 was the most difficult etude for his hand.

Why were your surprised?

-Daniel

There is enough clarity, speed, and contrast in both hands - based on the two Youtube videos of him playing it, that I thought he was one of the rare cases of people who don't struggle much with this etude.

Thanks to EH, I've been exploring more of Wunder's work. Last night, I found this video of Wunder playing the Gmin Ballade. His PFC is the most virtuosic pianism I've witnessed. It's certainly too presto and too fuoco for *every* mood, but it's not often my mouth goes uncommanded. And although it may not be fit for everyday moods, it certainly fits many of my moods!



I look forward to much more Wunder through the years.

edit: actually Sam Rose found the video, for those keeping score

I've been around here for a few years now, and google & I can usually figure things out, but...


His what?

-J

p.s. Best hypothesis: this is supposed to be "FPC", which would (I guess) be Chopin's first piano concerto. ?

Probably meant PCF

For presto con fuoco? Dang, that's absurd if that's it.

-J

Yes, that's certainly what he meant. It's a typo. Maybe he shouldn't have abbreviated it st all without first mentioning presto con fuoco, but we all get lazy sometimes (and he did use the words presto and fuoco in the following sentence).

It isn't only my opinion - after I bought the CD (purely on the basis of his Chopin competition concerto playing, and the fact that the public - though not the jury - thought he should have won) and wished I hadn't, I read the review in BBC Music Magazine which was pretty scathing, and mirrored my own opinion. I think the Gramophone review was more positive. But you should listen to it and judge for yourself......

Apologies: PFC = presto con fuoco. Too much time in the military, perhaps?

Confusions noted. Quest for perfection further delayed.

I'm going to take a listen to more of his work and decide a bit more what I think.

I can't shake my tendency toward obscurity! PFC = private first class, a military rank. And only related to Chopin's Ballade in the most obscure way imaginable: both can be angry when necessary.

Glad to hear that you've discovered Wunder. Certainly a thrilling performance there.