Classical Music for Aficionados

Jeremy - I love the playing of young Grosvenor, he has a lot of charm to his playing. I have a stunning Ravel - Gaspard di La Nuit that I recorded from BBC Radio 3 last year and the playing is phenoninal. He also has some super recordings also, have a look on Discogs and you will see some lovely recitals there. Jim.

jim
listening to Grosvenor's "Homage" album, outstanding!
and technically it is as good as it gets, credit Decca

Yes Jeremy he has quite an arsenal of technical ability , let's hope he never takes up the baton as I'd hate to hear that technique dissipating as it did with Ashkenazy and now I notice in hia last concert Mikhail Pletnov has lost a good bit of flexibility in his playing. What I mean is he is relying on muscle memory  which happens when you don't ge enough time to practice on your instrument . I remember Menuhin in his later years when he was spending so much time guest conducting and with his roll in Unesco his playing was awfull through lack of practice.

This is a remarkably interesting and erudite thread containing both mainstream and offbeat suggestions. But reading through it, I did miss two of my favorite recordings.

There are a few recommendations for Nielsen’s music, but nothing praising his Third Symphony which is well deserving of all the praise its fans send its way. Frankly, I think it is a masterpiece, and since there are few recordings available, I may as well recommend the one where I first heard the piece: Leonard Bernstein conducting the Royal Danish Philharmonic Orchestra on a CBS recording released in 1965.

The second of the "missing" recommendations is a very recent recording on the 2L lablel of two song cycles for voice and orchestra by the Norwegian composer Henning Sommerro: Ujamaa and the Iceberg. This might be a little weird for some, but it is tonal, attention grabbing, stunning, and simply the best recording I have ever heard.

Jim
I think some pianists turn to conducting as they age and are losing their physical skills.  Physically, it is easier to conduct than play a piano.  I recall reading that Sv Richter was despondent in his 80's for this reason, and stopped playing in public.  He also once said that he did not want to conduct because that would mean taking a 6 months break from his piano practice, and he doubted he could recover after that.
As you say, Ashkenazy is a good case in point.  Barenboim is another.
Many first rate pianists are fully capable of being conductors, but it is hard to do both.
In USA we have very few athletes who succeed at two professional sports. 
Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders are the only two that I recall.  Danny Ange played baseball just enough to get some leverage about which basketball team he would play for.  Remember when Michael Jordan quit basketball to attempt pro golf? It did not work out for him.
In college I knew a guy who lettered in 5 sports in his freshman year, went on the play on the Davis Cup tennis team.  But he never played but one sport professionally (tennis).