붓꽃 독백 - Good Friday의 에스프리 David Helfgott - Shine

 

유대계 폴란드 부모로 부터 호주에서 태어나

정신분열증이란 힘겨운 병마와 싸워가며

인간의 한계를 극복하고 세계적인 피아니스타가 된

오스카 상을 수상한 영화 샤인의 주인공 David Helfgott

 

그가 연주하는 라흐마니프 피아노 협주곡 3번 전곡을

Good Friday 밤에 부활절을 기념하며 여러분들 앞에

내려 놓습니다.

 

특별히 존경하는 나의 뫼닮 선생님, 매스터 선생님과

멀리 영국에 계신 일목 선생님

 

내 영원한 영혼의 지기 친구 진경산수 앞에

그리고 이지와 지성에 빛나는 목로주점 아우님 앞에

그리고 소중한 벗님들 몇 분께..

그리고 정글맨 님께

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Helfgott (born 19 May 1947) is an Australian concert pianist.

He is as well-known for having schizoaffective disorder as he is for

his piano playing.

 

Helfgott's life inspired the Oscar-winning film Shine.

 

Biography

Early life

Helfgott was born in Melbourne to Polish-Jewish parents. He became known

as a child prodigy after his father started teaching him the piano when he was five.

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.

 

At the age of fourteen, people such as Perth composer James Penberthy and 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 also given early indications of

mental illness). From age 17 he studied with Alice Carrard, a former student of

Béla Bartók and István Thomán. He won the state final of the ABC Instrumental and

Vocal Competition six times.

London studies and mental illness

At the age of nineteen, Helfgott won a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music

in London, England, where he studied under the pianist Cyril Smith for three years.

The awards he won at the RCM included the Dannreuther Prize for Best Concerto

Performance for his performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3.

 

During his time in London he began showing more definite manifestations of

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

Clare Papp, an older woman with four children. He worked as a rehearsal pianist

for the Western Australian Opera Company and also took part in several ABC concerts.

After his brief 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 1983 his brother Les Helfgott found him work at a Perth wine bar called Riccardo's.

In 1984, at Riccardo's, Helfgott met Gillian Murray, an astrologer. They married later

that year.

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 Geoffrey Rush

(adult), Noah Taylor (teenager) and Alex Rafalowicz (child). The film has come in for

strong criticism from Helfgott's siblings for a range of inaccuracies, particularly for the

portrayal of his father as a tyrannical despot.

 

Out of Tune, the critique of the film written by Margaret Helfgott and Tom Gross, was

named the most important biography of a troubled genuis, by The Huffington Post

in April 2011.

Current musical career

Helfgott generally prefers to perform Romantic music, mostly Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff,

Chopin, Liszt, Schumann 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 American journal Fanfare Magazine was critical not only of

Helfgott himself, but also of his producers, who were "marketing Helfgott's pain."

 

The British magazine Gramophone was similarly scathing about the exploitative nature

of their issue, which, the magazine said, marketed Helfgott as an "unsung genius" when

it was obvious from the recordings that he was not.

 

On stage, Helfgott is known for his unusual platform manner. In 1997, critic Anthony

Tommasini noted that Helfgott "stares into the hall and renders a nonstop commentary

of grunts, groans and mutterings".

 

In December 1999, Helfgott was the opener for the "Geniuses, Savants and Prodigies"

 conference of Allan Snyder's Centre for the Mind.

 

Also in 1999, Helfgott appeared on the rock group Silverchair's album Neon Ballroom

(on the opening track, Emotion Sickness). Ben Gillies, the drummer of Silverchair,

 described Helfgott's adding of the brilliant and difficult piano track to the song, as one

of the greatest things he'd seen a musician do. The piano arrangement was made

by Larry Muhoberac.

 

Helfgott tours Australia annually and plays a small number of recitals in other countries.

Personal life

David Helfgott now lives in "The Promised Land", a valley near Bellingen in New South Wales,

with his second wife, Gillian. When not at the piano his other interests include reading,

watching television, listening to music (preferably all at the same time), cats, chess,

philosophy, swimming and keeping fit. A former cigarette smoker, Helfgott quit 30 years

ago due to the influence of his wife.

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 26 November 2006, David Helfgott was formally inducted into the Australian
• Walk of Fame. At the ceremony, he performed several classical pieces including Rachmaninoff's piano arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee.
• Dannreuther Prize for Best Concerto Performance for his performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano

 

Provenance - wikipedia