Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor Rob Barnett Editor in Chief
John Quinn Contributing Editor Ralph Moore Webmaster
David Barker Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf MusicWeb Founder Len Mullenger
David Helfgott: A Musical Journey Part I – A documentary
Edited and presented by Melvyn Bragg Part II – In Concert 1997, Nottingham, UK Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Andante and Rondo Capriccioso Franz LISZT (1811-1886) Un sospiro; Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata No. 23 'Appassionata' Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844-1908) The Flight of the Bumblebee
David Helfott
(piano)
Picture format NTSC 4:3; Region codes 2,3,4,5; Linear PCM
Stereo; Subtitles : English, Deutsch, Español, Français,
Italiano WARNER MUSIC VISION
3984 20512-2 [94:00]
If
you didn’t know already courtesy of the movie Shine,
Australian pianist David Helfgott was born of Polish Jewish
parents in 1947, studied in London in the late 1960s, suffered
a mental breakdown and was rehabilitated in the 1980s. In
1997 he undertook a world tour and Melvyn Bragg made the
documentary which takes up about half this disc whilst he
was in the UK. The other half is part of a recital given
in Nottingham before an enraptured audience.
The
very first point which comes across in the documentary is
the disparity between the reactions of audiences and most
critics to Helfgott’s playing. One of the critics, Andrew
Clements, was unable to continuing listening and became a
deserter at half-time. But a young-looking Norman Lebrecht,
who has certainly unmellowed in the last ten years, comes
to Helfgott’s defence. In this respect the documentary does
well in teasing out a real dilemma in assessing the pianist’s
stature. His coach Peter Feuchtwanger is interviewed and
freely admits to his inconsistency. Helfgott’s limitations
in coping with larger structures are also demonstrated to
us. The principal compensations are here attributed to a
spiritual element to his playing but I would suspect that
it is Helfgott’s ability to communicate that wins over the
audiences. Even that has downsides – his facial expressions
and body language mostly do not make for a pleasing visual
experience and the sometimes wonderful sounds he conjures
from a Bösendorfer come with vocalisations that would make
Glenn Gould’s pale into insignificance. Add to that some
notable departures from the scores and frequent major liberties
with tempi, and you might indeed wonder if it is worth bothering
to listen to the man play. But bear with me a little longer.
The
documentary seeks to explore various aspects of Helfgott’s
mental state through considering his relationship with his
father and also through the eyes of his psychiatrist. The
effects of institutionalisation and his treatment are also
considered. But unlike Shine, which takes the long
journey and touches it up here and there (the extent of that
is debated here), most of what you get here is a close-up
of a rehabilitated man whose behaviour is nevertheless unusual.
His speech is repetitive and the need for physical contact
with Bragg and apparent strangers will make many people feel
uncomfortable. I rather liked the way he runs onto the stage
though!
I
take my brief here to be a review of this DVD and not to
pronounce on Helfgott as a pianist – there probably isn’t
enough evidence provided. The documentary is well-balanced
and worth seeing if you are at all interested in what happens
when potential genius and mental illness collide. One frustration
that probably couldn’t be avoided is the illustrative inter-cutting
of snippets of the pianist playing this and that; thus it
was essential to couple it with some recital material. The
items offered are all interesting to say the least. The Mendelssohn
is the most conventional performance whereas both Liszt pieces
are very freely interpreted. The Beethoven sonata has passion
aplenty and some stature but, like the rest, it is a performance
to see and hear once. The Flight of the bumble-bee is
an encore and Helfgott played that pretty straight. Listening
with the picture turned off is a markedly lesser experience
because the visual element is part of what Helfgott communicates
and there are times that he clearly was enjoying himself
very much. One notion I certainly don’t buy is the idea that
he was being exploited by promoters.
There
are no extras apart from an essay entitled David Helfgott
- The Early Years which is printed on the reverse of
the cover and which you can’t detach or read with the disc
in place. The print is small and it is difficult to read
anyway.
This
is a “one-off” which I am glad to have experienced. If you
have been interested enough to read this far you probably
should see it for yourself but, if possible, borrow rather
than buy.
Reviews
from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the
discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin
Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to
which you refer.