Pianist David Helfgott is set to deliver a rare performance at the Perth Concert Hall in July.
Perth’s own David Helfgott will return Friday 20 July to astound audiences with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, version for two pianos.
The piano concerto featured in the Academy Award winning film Shine which depicted Helfgott’s life.
Following the release of the film more than 20 years ago and Helfgott’s recording of Rachmaninoff’s No.3, it became the number one selling album in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom for many months and attained gold status.
Widely known as one of the most technically demanding piano concerti ever written, Helfgott’s quest to conquer the ‘Rach 3’ was central to the story of Shine. Now, following his rapturous reception at performances at the Sydney Opera House and at the Melbourne Recital Centre, Helfgott will once again embark on the rare challenge of performing the arrangement for two pianos.
Joining Helfgott on stage to perform this exquisite and complex work is Rhodri Clarke, an internationally acclaimed pianist who graduated with first class honours from London’s Royal College of Music and who for over ten years, has been touring world-wide playing in prestigious venues such as London’s Royal Festival Hall and New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Born in Melbourne in 1947 David showed extraordinary pianistic ability from an early age, winning the state finals of the ABC’s Instrumental & Vocal Competition six times and was invited to London to study at the Royal College of Music.
Despite playing at venues around the world (including 30 consecutive years at Mundaring Weir Hotel finishing in 2015) and winning numerous prestigious awards along the way, it was following the release of the film Shine starring Geoffrey Rush, that David’s true musical genius and inspiring life was shared with a wider audience and he became fully internationally recognised.
In October 1996, David played four sold-out concerts at the Sydney Opera House – an unprecedented occurrence – and a challenging world tour followed the next year, with packed recitals and performances throughout the US and the UK.
The tour concluded with David’s return to the Royal Albert Hall in London, where he played Rachmaninoff’s No.3 to a capacity crowd and received a thunderous standing ovation.
For David, one of the major highlights of his career came in October 2004 when Edith Cowan University in Western Australia awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Music with his whole family was in attendance.
For his Perth concert audiences will get to hear Liszt’s Concert Etude No.3 Un Sospiro, Les jeux d’eau a la Villa d’Estre and Après une Lecture de Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata before Helfgott plays Rachmmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No 3 in D Minor, Op. 30; version for two pianos.
Get tickets to the show at the Perth Concert Hall on Friday 20 July 2018 from Ticketmaster.
Source: Media Release
