Inspired by David Helfgott!

When it comes to playing the piano, no living person inspires me more than David Helfgott. So what a treat to see and hear him perform live in a solo piano recital at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Friday night.

I’d never been to this venue before – it opened while I was deaf. I used to walk past it a bit sadly, wishing it had opened during the years I had normal hearing. I never thought I’d be lucky enough to be able to attend and hear a performance there. (Insert spontaneous applause for the miracle of cochlear implants!)

We sat in the stalls of the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall – fully looped, fantastic. No need to arrive to the venue early to pick up a head set – just switch to telecoil once you’re seated. But there’s a trade-off for sitting in the stalls – it means you don’t get to see the pianist’s hands while they’re playing. Not a big deal for most people but for me, it’s usually a preference. A view of the hands means lots of visual cues that help me make sense of the music. I like to watch the speed of the hands, the force at which the keys are pressed and, for my own interest, the particular keys that are being played. I could see the hammers being hit, thanks to the reflection in the grand piano lid, but as a visual cue for the brain it wasn’t really all that helpful. They looked pretty though. ;-) Here’s the thing … after the intermission, I forgot to switch back to telecoil. And the music sounded exactly the same to me as when I was listening to it via the loop. So I know now, for next time – book seats in the dress circle and don’t bother with the loop. I’d rather see the pianist’s hands.

So how did the music sound? The bass tones sounded a little fuzzy. The higher tones sounded beautiful and crisp. That’s pretty normal – that’s exactly how my own piano sounds. The bass tones will make me cringe sometimes. The high notes sound amazing. (I have issues with the bass in all music, really. Sometimes, when I’m driving, I find myself automatically reaching for the bass knob on the car stereo. Songs always sound like the treble is turned way up, and the bass is turned way down. Of course, the settings are always perfectly balanced. It’s just the way I hear. I wonder whether it’s a personal thing – maybe my brain has a low tolerance for bass sounds, so my maps don’t factor them in.)

Here’s the thing that had me beat though – when listening to David Helfgott play, at this live performance, I could depict the dynamics of the piece. Loudness is nothing new. I can tell the difference between forte and fortissimo. But in my own piano playing, I can never tell whether I’m playing piano or pianissimo. I press the keys in a way that I think achieves the effect, but the cochlear implants raise the volume up to a normal tone. It’s pretty confusing, and it’s my greatest challenge when it comes to playing the piano. So imagine my joy on Friday night at being able to suddenly hear the full range of dynamics in a piano piece. What a difference it made!

I tried to work out why … and could only take a wild guess. Maybe the speakers at the venue were amplifying the music to a volume where the CI software doesn’t compress the sound to the same degree? I hope that’s it. Please oh please don’t let the difference between sound be the $600,000 Steinway concert grand on that stage (drool) because if that piano is the answer to my problems … well that is Never Going To Happen. :-)

So bass issues aside, could I enjoy the music? Absolutely. Even though his entire repertoire was unfamiliar to me. The only two songs I recognised all night were part of his encore performances. One that I recognised but don’t know the name of. And the other was Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee, a token David Helfgott piece that also featured in the movie Shine. He got lots of cheers from the crowd for that one!

But despite not knowing the earlier pieces, I still really enjoyed them. Piano comes more naturally to me than other instruments – it’s the one I spend the most time listening to, so that makes sense. I’m also lucky in that I can tell the difference between each semitone, so that means I can learn new melodies.
I especially loved the fast pieces he played in the first half. He has amazingly quick fingers, and an incredible memory. And he’s quite a character, as many of us know. He loves performing, loves people. Non-stop rapid bowing after each piece, looking to different parts of the theatre, desperate to acknowledge every single person in the hall and giving us all the thumbs up. A huge smile on his face. My view of him was limited while he was actually playing, but I did see him look over at the crowd several times as if checking our reactions, a huge smile on his face. (It always seemed to be during the most difficult part of a piece! As if he was saying, ‘now listen to this bit’!) I really enjoyed the Liszt pieces he played in the first half of the show – most likely because the higher notes dominated, and because of the sheer speed of the pieces. I was most impressed. And inspired! Boy I have a long way to go. :-)
 
(I will note that there was one trill that sounded pretty ordinary to me. It was during Liszt’s ‘La Campanella’. I’m pretty sure he was repetitively alternating between the two highest notes on the piano. For one of them, I could hear a partial thud and partial tone, and for the other, I could only hear the hammer thud! But that was the only time during the entire performance that I frowned, so not bad at all!)

During the intermission, I mentioned to Jase that I thought the pieces David Helfgott plays are very much in line with his character – agitato. A lover of caffeine, David has a hard time keeping still. Even while playing, he shuffles around on the piano bench, sometimes moving it along, wiggling around the free leg that’s not using the pedals. And yes, since his mental breakdown he mutters constantly, even while he’s playing. (I could not hear the muttering during the performances – though Jase tells me he did hear him murmuring occasionally.) But he completely surprised me during the second half of the performance, playing longer, calmer, romantic music. And he played the pieces beautifully. (I was happy he finished with an ‘agitato’ ending to a Chopin sonata though!) 
 
Gillian seemed to have a hard time getting him off stage at the end – what incredible patience she must have! (Of course, we were happy for David to keep playing!) He shook hands with everyone in the front row, giving them the thumbs up. Then, just as it looked like Gillian had successfully gotten him to walk backstage, he came back and shook hands with them all a second time!
 
David touches the hearts of people all around the world. It sounds corny but when he sits at a piano, when his fingers connect to the keys, it’s like they’re one and the same. Me? I still sit at the piano in fear. Reverence even. But he is a true commander of it. Though his memory is extraordinary, I believe his music is driven by the heart. He loves to play. He loves to entertain. He loves music. It’s a part of him. It couldn’t be quashed by an overbearing father. It most certainly couldn’t be quashed by a disability. And that’s why he continues to be such an inspiration to me.

Thanks David, for an incredible performance.

Now back to piano practice for me … ;-)