Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 - Liszt
La Campanella - Liszt
Sonata apres une lecture de Dante - Liszt
Hungarian Rhapsody No 6 - Liszt
Ondine (Gaspard de la Nuit) - Ravel
Toccata (Tombeau de Couperin) - Ravel
Sonata No 2 (1931 version) - Rachmaninov
If ever there was a pianist who needed no introduction, it is David Helfgott. Until recently he was unknown; now, thanks to the success of the film Shine, his career problems and mental health problems have, if anything, been too well advertised. All this makes it hard to review his playing objectively, and one isn't entirely sure if it should be.
Certainly he gives an impression of oddness. His demeanour is eccentric, and his playing is accompanied by non-stop singing and talking. In case we couldn't imagine the groans of the damned in Liszt's Dante Sonata, Helfgott supplied them. His playing is equally odd, fluent one minute, sketchy the next, and always slightly unfocused. His tempi, especially in the Liszt pieces, were very free, and he had a tendency to slow down at difficult passages and at ends of phrases. He certainly never forces the tone, and it was all a bit flaccid, but there were nevertheless moments of beauty and delicacy.
