| David Helfgott |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT DAVID HELFGOTT | |
| 1947 births | |
| living people | |
| australian classical pianists | |
| jewish classical musicians | |
| australian jews | |
| polish australians | |
| alumni of the royal college of music | |
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Helfgott's life inspired the Oscar -winning Film '' Shine '', directed by Scott Hicks and starring Geoffrey Rush and Noah Taylor as Helfgott at different periods of his life. BIOGRAPHY Early life He 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 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, various interested 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 the indications of mental illness). London studies and 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 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 . Rise and ''Shine'' 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 . It was felt by many critics and classical music-lovers that his pianistic ability had severe technical and aesthetic deficiencies, and that his onscreen portrayal was false. Despite this, the film brought Helfgott the status of an Australian public figure. Current musical career Helfgott generally prefers to perform Romantic Music , mostly Modest Mussorgsky , Sergei Rachmaninoff , Frédéric Chopin , Franz Liszt , Robert Schumann and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov . However, some of his recordings, especially that of Rachmaninoff's third piano concerto, have been criticized as "pallid, erratic and incoherent." {Link without Title} 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 . PERSONAL LIFE David Helfgott now lives in "The Promised Land", a valley near Bellingen in New South Wales with his second wife, Gillian. He continues to perform concerts at his home. His other interests include Cat s, Chess , Philosophy , Tennis , Swimming and keeping fit in general. AWARDS
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