deaf AND blind?
***
No he's right, and Wunder's face reacts when it happens, but it is almost nothing anyway, just one small scratch in the RH middle of Op.10 no.2, and a Db octave where it's supposed to be an Eb octave in the left hand in Op.10 no.2 (his face reacts here too)...
Stevie, I really don't agree that this is the minimum speed for the Winter Wind. Don't you think that the spirit of the left hand is obliterated at that speed? The LH melody almost sounds like a Sousa march now. It would be completely comical sounding, except that the technique he shows is simply incredible. Still, it's not prestissimo, or even presto con fuoco, it's marked allegro con brio, and Chopin had it right I think. It would be more admirable, if less physically astounding, if he could show even more understanding of the spirit of the piece AND play cleanly and brilliantly.
I think the Winter Wind is simply more beautiful when it's played a little more slowly, but it's true that his technique really is amazing.
I do have one question though. On Mr. Wunder's personal website, there is a quote on the homepage:
"so that it seems to lie before him like an immense landscape, revealed to the eye at a single glance" - S.Richter
I find this quite amazing, since Ingolf Wunder would have been 12 years old when Richter died...