Ingolf Wunder Deutsche Grammophon*****

The Austrian pianist Ingolf Wunder was a finalist at last year’s Chopin international piano competition, in Warsaw, taking joint second place with Moscow-born Lukas Geniusas behind the controversial winner of the €30,000 top prize, another Muscovite, Yulianna Avdeeva. However, it’s Wunder who got signed up by Deutsche Grammophon, and on his first all-Chopin CD he plays four major works – the Sonata in B minor, the Polonaise-Fantaisie, the Fourth Ballade, and the Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise brillante – in a measured, aristocratic style. It’s the kind of approach that’s all too rare at competitions. Wunder’s tone is full and noble, and he allows the music to unfold with natural ease, forgoing temptations for any kind of grandstanding. At the same time his musicmaking has a sinewy grip that can generate cumulative power in a way that makes for compelling listening. See deutschegrammophon.com