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There's definitely a high E that he's not playing nor is in the score.

At 3:20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BseUi3Qs5p8#t=3m20s

???

Great catch!

I can't tell that it's an E but I'm happy to take your word for it.

That sure is weird. I wonder if it was just a stray sound from somewhere in the hall rather than from the piano. Like, maybe there's a hotel desk in the rear and someone rang for the bellhop.

BTW is it just me or is that piano horribly out of tune? And I've got to say, the performance (at least that part, which was all I listened to) doesn't sound too great. If I didn't know that this piece was Chopin, I might have said Prokofiev.
And it wouldn't be real good Prokofiev either.

It must be a hotel desk.

And the piano doesn't sound out of tune to me. I don't see why it would be either; that's the Chopin competition. I also don't think that spot sounds badly played at all. It's marked agitato. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

.....but not "every note including in the L.H. to be played loud and with no shape, and foot to be placed on the pedal and not released."

I don't hear horrible playing! Give the whole video a listen. He does a good job I would say. I like his tempo through the whole thing. I think most people rush the main theme.

If there's a high E that he is not playing nor is it in the score, then what's the question? If the note is not in the score and he's not playing it .... Huh?

The question is why the heck do we hear a high E?

That's very strange - he's definitely not playing it, so it must be coming from somewhere else. The question is, why can we hear it as clearly as what he's playing?

I agree with Mark that this section sounds terrible - he is not articulating the melody at all. Just because it's marked "agitato" doesn't mean that you don't have to phrase it.

I really don't see a problem with it. Listen to the whole recording. He knows how to phrase, people.

I guess because some sound in the hall resembles a high E at that stage. I think Cage would be happy to see that there is indeed sound everywhere.
By the way, I think the piano is out of tune too.

The E could just be a sympathetic vibration caused by any number of acoustic factors too numerous to try to list.

Regards,

Clearly that high E is a sign from beyond the grave by Chopin that we must all do it from now on. Please amend your scores accordingly!

An overtone of a lower note that is being played could be reinforced by poor voicing, summation tones, or resonances.