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David Helfgott is an Australian concert pianist whose life inspired the film Shine. He has performed Romantic music, but his recordings and concerts have been criticized for their quality and style.
Learn about the life and career of David Helfgott, a renowned Australian pianist who overcame mental illness and achieved international acclaim. Explore his awards, recordings, tours and achievements in this comprehensive biography.
David Helfgott is truly a living legend. As early as the age of five, David demonstrated a rare gift with his piano-playing ability. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse around 1970 when illness overtook his life for more than a decade. Things finally started to change in the early'80s.
Aug 16, 2022 · Gillian Helfgott, a renowned astrologer and author, passed away at 90 after a short illness. She helped David Helfgott recover from a mental breakdown and supported his musical career, as portrayed by Lynne Redgrave in the Oscar-winning film Shine.
- Overview
- Early life
- Royal College of Music
- Breakdown and comeback
- Shine
- Later life
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David Helfgott (born May 19, 1947, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Australian pianist who was a child prodigy but later struggled with mental illness. After a period in psychiatric hospitals, he returned to music and gained popular acclaim. Helfgott’s life was dramatized in the 1996 film Shine, starring Geoffrey Rush, who won an Oscar for his perfo...
Helfgott, the second of five children, was born in Melbourne and raised alongside his sisters, Margaret, Louise, and Susan, and brother, Les. The family later moved to Perth, Western Australia, where Helfgott began playing piano at about the age of four under the direction of his father, Peter Helfgott. A strict disciplinarian whose own father had not allowed him to pursue his musical interests, David Helfgott’s father wanted him to achieve greatness and always made having a piano a top priority, even when the family was nearing poverty. By age nine, Helfgott had begun playing publicly. At one memorable country festival, the piano began rolling as he performed a piece by Frédéric Chopin, but the focused youth stood up and followed the piano without missing a beat. The judges awarded him a special prize. His father acknowledged that Helfgott needed better training and sought instructors willing to work for free. Helfgott had many mentors through the years, including Alice Carrard, a former student of Béla Bartók. At age 12 Helfgott was the youngest contestant to enter the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Western Australia State Concerto and Vocal Competition, a contest he won six times during his life.
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In 1961 visiting violinist Isaac Stern suggested that Helfgott study in America. Helfgott’s father, however, felt his son was too young to live away from home and disallowed the move. Five years later Helfgott accepted a scholarship to London’s Royal College of Music as well as a donation from the local community to fund the trip. The latter caused...
Helfgott suffered nervous breakdowns during the 1970s and spent most of the decade in and out of psychiatric hospitals. His illness was not clearly diagnosed, and his caretakers often banished him from the piano for fear of overexcitement. In 1983 Helfgott became a popular piano player at a Perth restaurant, where he met an astrologer, Gillian Murr...
Meanwhile, filmmaker Scott Hicks became fascinated by a 1986 newspaper article on Helfgott and sought permission to make a film inspired by his life story. Shine debuted 10 years later and was nominated for seven Academy Awards. Members of Helfgott’s family, however, criticized the film’s portrayal of Helfgott’s father, whom Margaret Helfgott asser...
In subsequent years Helfgott released such albums as Brilliantissimo (1997) and Brave New World (1998). He also performed with Australian band Silverchair on the single “Emotion Sickness,” from their album Neon Ballroom (1999). In the 21st century he continued to tour, and his 2012 European tour is the subject of the documentary Hello, I Am David! (2015). In 2023 Helfgott appeared in Hicks’s documentary The Musical Mind: A Portrait in Process. The previous year Helfgott’s wife, who had been his steadfast champion for decades, passed away at the age of 90.
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Learn about David Helfgott, an Australian pianist who was a child prodigy but later suffered from mental illness. Discover how he overcame his challenges and achieved fame through his music and the film Shine.
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Jan 26, 2021 · The Australian concert pianist, whose life inspired the film Shine, received the Order of Australia Medal for his musical career spanning seven decades. His wife Gillian said he was over the moon with the recognition and looking forward to performing again in 2021.
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Feb 21, 1997 · Though portrayed by actor Geoffrey Rush in the film “Shine,” David Helfgott is no fictional character. He’s a real-life pianist whose career collapsed just as it was beginning. Now, 25 years...
