etroit area audiences taken with David
Helfgott through the biographical movie
Shine or his wife's book, Love You to
Bits and Pieces, soon can hear the pi-
anist in person.
The Shine Tour brings him to the
Detroit Opera House at 7 p.m. Sun-
day, Sept. 7, the day after Gillian
Helfgott signs copies of her book and
answers questions at Borders in
Birmingham.
As the couple prepared to leave for
his American tour, Mrs. Helfgott dis-
cussed the effects of the attention they
have been getting with The Detroit Jew-

cal recital. David has such a joy of life and of his recordings. His Rachmaninov record-
love in him that he's broken down bathers ing and his new release Brilliantissimo, give
between the performer and the audience. a contact address. We get bundles of mail
Another thing that has become very im- and people e-mail us. It's a lovely feeling
portant — and what we had hoped would that so many people want to express their
come from the film and book — is opening joy or talk about their own lives.
people who have had been in a mental
I answer all the mail that's given to us at
wilderness to feel a greater sense of hope. concerts. It's very time-consuming, but so
They can look at what David's done and say many of the letters are very important be-
that they, too, can move forward and gain cause people are sharing, quite often, their
self-esteem.
most personal experiences. That certainly
warrants a personal answer. The most com-
mon thing that comes out of all those letters
is the inspiration that Shine has given them.

ish News.

She touched upon her husband's turbu-
lent childhood, emotional breakdown, idio-
syncrasies and ultimate successes.

Q: Did you anticipate all the positive
responses you have experienced?

J EWIS H NEWS

A: When I met David, I knew that he had

a very special talent. He's always had the
ability to communicate with people through
his playing. His comeback concert was in
June of '84, and from that moment, I didn't
doubt that he would have a comeback
career.
I must admit I did not think he would be
playing to such huge audiences in so many
different places. Astrology showed that it
was going to be an incredibly important
year in his life so that didn't take me by sur-
prise, but the tremendous response has
been beyond the expectations of Shine's di-
rector and us.

Q: Has your appreciation for music in-
tensified since you married?

Gillian Helfgott, wife of
musical prodigy David
Helfgott of Shine fame,
talks about their life today
and her husband's
relationship to his
Judaism.

SUZANNE CHESSLER

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

is drawing a new audience to classical mu-
sic. It's very exciting that so many people
of all ages are coming to their first classi-

David but only as an average classical mu-
sic lover. I had very intense training in ap-
preciation, particularly in piano music, since
I've been with David, so my knowledge ac-
celerated very rapidly and, consequently,
my appreciation.

Q: Do you still practice astrology as a
profession?

A: Over the last year, I really haven't had

time. We've been on the move and touring.
When things quiet down a little from all the
publicity and the work associated with all
of it, I hope to go back to astrology again.

Q: Do you use astrology on a personal
basis to make decisions or plan?

A: I don't sit and look at it every day and de-

Q: What have been the best results of
all the notoriety?

A: Because of David's very high profile, he

A: I had musical knowledge before I met

Q: Are you getting a lot of fan mail these
days?

A: We are inundated with mail as a result

cide whether to cross the road or not. I'm
looking at it in a far broader sense. In July,
the way the aspects loomed on my chart, it
showed that this really was an important
time to allow things to flow and not try to
push.
It was partly planned that we would be