In a few years this will be a mere curiosity, not the abomination of marketing that it now seems. David Helfgott, one hopes, will be happily retired on the earnings from his 15 minutes of fame, and the movie Shine which documented his mental illness and aborted an attempt at a professional pianist career will be consigned to the video rental shelves. But for now, unfortunately, we have before us a document of a pianist whose fingers and imagination have not developed singly nor in the amalgam necessary to be considered an artist.
“Brilliantissimo” is disappointing not just because it tears away the veil of fantasy that made Shine so enjoyable, but also because it reveals a technically deficient player. Both of course are true but more important is the lack of fantasy, eccentricity and risk. Helfgott’s playing is laboured, his passagework cautious and methodical. If one hopes for recklessness, daring and the remnants of adolescent abandon, look elsewhere. So, too, if one hopes for insight into Helfgott’s psyche or the tenuous links between madness and creativity.
The only consistent musical quirk here is a tendency to fragment lines, sometimes with odd pedalling and pauses (especially in Chopin’s ‘Raindrop’ Prelude), sometimes with strong disruptive accents (Chopin’s Etude, Op. 10 No. 3, in E major). The effect is more annoying than unsettling, like trying to sleep through irregular snoring. Non-musical annoyances include muffled mumbling in the background, an artist biography that condescendingly refers to Helfgott as David and a quotation cited large in the centrefold of the booklet: “Keep life simple – be aware – read and listen to music”.'