Pianist to end public playing

Vladimir Ashkenazy will stop playing the piano in public for unspecified “physical problems,” the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported. The renowned Russian pianist told the paper that he didn’t want to discuss details, but he showed his hands to a journalist who noted that three fingers were misshapen by arthritis.

Winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 1956 and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1962, Ashkenazy last played in public about a year ago. He said he planned to continue recording because in the studio he can stop and start again.

He will also continue to conduct. He was recently appointed principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Sydney Symphony for a three-year term beginning in January 2009.