David Helfgott (born 19 May 1947) is an Australian concert pianist whose life inspired the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning film '' Shine'', in which he was portrayed by actors

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy Award, a Primetime Emm ...

Noah Taylor Noah George Taylor (born 4 September 1969) is a British-born Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage David Helfgott in '' Shine'', Locke in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', Darby Sabini in the BBC One series ''Peaky Bl ...

and Alex Rafalowicz.

Biography

Early life

Helfgott was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

parents Rachel (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Granek) and Elias Peter Helfgott. He won the state final of the ABC Instrumental and Vocal Competition.

London studies and mental illness

The awards he won at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including perform ...

included the Dannreuther Prize for Best Concerto Performance, for his performance of

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

's Piano Concerto No. 3, and the Marmaduke Barton Prize. During his time in London, he began showing more definite manifestations of

schizoaffective disorder Schizoaffective disorder (SZA, SZD or SAD) is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal thought processes and an unstable mood. This diagnosis is made when the person has symptoms of both schizophrenia (usually psychosis) and a mood disorder: ...

. He returned to Perth in 1970. The following year he married

Hungarian Jew The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived ...

ish immigrant Clare Papp, who had four children.

Who Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...

, 24 March 1997 He worked as a rehearsal pianist for the Western Australian Opera Company. In 1983, his brother Les Helfgott found him a job working at a Perth wine bar called Riccardo's. The co-owner of the bar was a doctor, Chris Reynolds, who played a significant part in Helfgott's rehabilitation and also introduced him to Gillian Murray, whom Helfgott married in 1984.

''Shine''

Helfgott was the subject of the 1996 film '' Shine'', which dealt with the pianist's formative years and struggle with mental illness. Helfgott was portrayed by actors

(adult),

(teenager) and Alex Rafalowicz (child). His brother Les has described the portrayal of their father in both ''Shine'' and in Gillian Helfgott's biography as "all outright lies". David Helfgott's first wife Clare Papp has also said that Peter Helfgott was "quite badly maligned" in the film. In a letter to the editor of ''

Limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created whe ...

'', published in the September 2013 edition, Margaret and Les Helfgott refer to certain claims made in an article in the August 2013 editionIllario Colli, ''Limelight'', August 2013
Rise and shine with David Helfgott
Retrieved 2 April 2018 and state that "there was no estrangement from members of Helfgott's family following his return to Australia. On the contrary, he moved straight back into the family home, and was cared for by our family. Dad was not 'overbearing', and his main objection to David's going abroad was his concern for his son's welfare."

Current musical career

Helfgott generally prefers to perform

Romantic music Romantic music is a stylistic movement in Western Classical music associated with the period of the 19th century commonly referred to as the Romantic era (or Romantic period). It is closely related to the broader concept of Romanticism—th ...

, mostly

Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

, Chopin,

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

and Rimsky-Korsakov. However, his recordings and performances, especially that of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, have been criticized as "pallid, erratic and incoherent." Of the two commercial recordings released by

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

, the American journal ''

Fanfare Magazine ''Fanfare'' is an American bimonthly magazine devoted to reviewing recorded music in all playback formats. It mainly covers classical music, but since inception, has also featured a jazz column in every issue. History and profile ''Fanfare'' wa ...

'' was critical not only of Helfgott himself, but also of his producers, who were "marketing Helfgott's pain." The British magazine ''

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

'' was similarly scathing about the exploitative nature of their issue, which, the magazine said, falsely marketed Helfgott as an "unsung genius". On stage, Helfgott is known for his unusual platform manner. In 1997, critic

Anthony Tommasini Anthony Carl Tommasini (born April 14, 1948) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "a discerning critic, whose taste, knowledge and judgment have made him a must-read", Tommasini was the chief c ...

noted that Helfgott "stares into the hall and renders a nonstop commentary of grunts, groans and mutterings". Of a 1997 Helfgott recital in New Zealand, critic

Denis Dutton Denis Laurence Dutton (9 February 1944 – 28 December 2010) was an American philosopher of art, web entrepreneur, and media activist. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was also ...

wrote, "If, as

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

claimed, architecture is frozen music, David Helfgott is the musician who finally proves the converse: that music can also be melted architecture — a structureless rubble of notes." Helfgott tours Australia annually and plays a small number of recitals in other countries. His 2015 European tour was the subject of a documentary, ''Hello, I Am David!''

Personal life

Helfgott lives in The Promised Land, a valley near Bellingen in New South Wales. His second wife Gillian died in 2022, aged 90.

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

Helfgott was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

of music by

Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Australian university named after a woman. Gaining unive ...

in 2004. He was awarded the Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

in the

2021 Australia Day Honours The 2021 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2021 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley. The Australia ...

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, ''David Helgott'' ,

Best Classical Album The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by m ...

, , ARIA Award previous winners. , -

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the

Mo Awards The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, that where established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were l ...

), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. (wins only) , - , 1996 , David Helfgott , Australian Show Business Ambassador of the Year , , -

References

External links

David Helfgott's official homepage

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Helfgott, David 1947 births Living people Australian classical pianists Male classical pianists Jewish Australian musicians Jewish classical pianists Australian people of Polish-Jewish descent Alumni of the Royal College of Music People educated at Mount Lawley Senior High School People with schizoaffective disorder Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 20th-century classical pianists 21st-century classical pianists Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts alumni 20th-century Australian male musicians 20th-century Australian musicians 21st-century Australian male musicians 21st-century Australian musicians