David Helfgott

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For Helfgott Research Institute, see Helfgott Research Institute

David Helfgott (born May 19, 1947) is a controversial Australian pianist whose life inspired Australian director Scott Hicks' Oscar-winning film Shine starring Geoffrey Rush. He is as well-known for having schizoaffective disorder as for his piano playing. His other interests include cats, chess, philosophy, tennis, swimming and keeping fit in general.

Helfgott, born in Melbourne to Polish-Jewish parents, became known as a child prodigy after his father started teaching him the piano when he was six. When he was ten years old he studied under Frank Arndt, a Perth piano teacher, and won several local competitions, sometimes alone and sometimes with his elder sister Margaret Helfgott.

When David was fourteen, the Australian musical community, led by Perth journalist James Penberthy, and including writer Katharine Susannah Prichard, raised money to enable him to go to the United States to study music. However, his father denied him permission, on the grounds that he was not ready for independence (and presumably the indications of mental illness). When he was nineteen, he won a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London, England for three years, where he studied under Cyril Smith.

During his time in London he began showing more definite manifestations of mental illness. His doctor in Australia, Chris Reynolds, whom he met some twenty years later, said that he suffers from an acute anxiety neurosis. He returned to Perth in 1970, and married his first wife, Clara, in 1971. He also took part in several Australian Broadcasting Corporation concerts. After his marriage broke down he was institutionalised in Graylands, a Perth mental hospital. Over the next ten years, he underwent psychiatric treatment which included psychotropic medication and electroconvulsive therapy.

In 1984, after performing for some years at a Perth wine bar called Riccardo's, he met astrologer Gillian Murray. Some months later they married, and he continued a successful playing career throughout the 1980s and 1990s in both Australia and Europe. In 1994 he played in Russia, but his world tour in 1997 on the heels of the movie Shine met with poor reviews. It was felt by many critics that his pianistic ability had severe technical and aesthetic deficiencies and that he failed to live up to the onscreen portrayal.

Helfgott generally prefers to perform romantic music, mostly Modest Mussorgsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

David Helfgott now lives (in the officially named) "The Promised Land" a beautiful valley near Bellingen in New South Wales with his second wife, Gillian. He continues to perform concerts at his home.

In December 1999, David Helfgott was the opener for the "Geniuses, Savants and Prodigies" conference of Allan Snyder's Centre for the Mind. He also appeared on rock group Silverchair's album Neon Ballroom.

[edit] Awards

State Finalist ABC Instrumental and Vocal Competition (6 times)
Time for Peace
Honorary Doctorate of Music. Edith Cowan University (Perth, Western Australia) - Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)

On November 26th, 2006 David Helfgott was formally inducted into the Australian Walk of Fame. Performing several classical pieces including "The Bee", David demonstated his continued brilliance as a pianist.