David Helfgott Information Page

Full Name	David Helfgott
Occupation	Pianist
Birthdate	May, 1947
Birthplace	Melbourne, Australia
Obtained from	Personal acquaintance
Posted by	1- Austin Prichard-Levy
Comments	"I produced two of David's CDs, Brilliantissimo and Brave New World, for BMG Classics (you can check the album liner notes for verification). I had heard a lot about his student days at the Royal College of Music from people who were there with him, including some stories indicating he possesses perfect pitch (for example, he can play anything on piano he's just heard on radio, like a symphony or whatever, it doesn't have to be piano music, he remembers about 48 hours of music, he can play pieces he hasn't looked at in 20 years etc). Before taking this at face value, however, I decided to conduct some objective tests of my own. While recording Brilliantissimo, I asked David to name notes that I picked out at random on the Bechstein piano in the hall where we were recording, while he was off changing in a dressing room well out of sight, but not out of earshot. He correctly named every note I played. I then played a strange 8-note chord with lots of unusual intervals in it, and again he named each note in the chord without hesitation. I have to say I was impressed!" [1]