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Helfgott bids farewell to Hills sanctuary

Coda: David Helfgott and Mundaring Weir Hotel owner Jens Jorgensen. Picture: Michael O’Brien/The West Australian

The curtain is closing on a 30-year partnership that helped David Helfgott retune the emotional strings of a life almost overcome by mental illness.

The Perth-born pianist will take his final bow at the Mundaring Weir Hotel this weekend after a farewell recital to end 30 years of playing at the historic venue.

Helfgott, 67, said his regular gigs there were a testament to the loyalty and care shown by owner-manager Jens Jorgensen, who initiated the concerts in 1985.

The pianist was then taking his first tentative steps in a remarkable recovery after a decade in and out of psychiatric institutions.

Speaking largely through wife Gillian, Helfgott said the annual Mundaring concerts helped him keep his bearings while navigating an international music career and it was a nostalgic pleasure to return to the hotel.

"I have lots of happy memories of sharing my music in this idyllic setting with such caring audiences," he said.

"Their support has been heartwarming over a very long period and thank you, Jens, for your unfailing support and friendship."

Helfgott, who has lived in rural NSW since 1991, continued to include the hotel in a busy touring schedule after the 1996 Oscar-winning film Shine shot him to fame.

It told of his early life as a piano prodigy troubled by schizoaffective disorder.

Saturday's recital will include Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata and other romantic piano favourites.

In 1984 when Mr Jorgensen bought the 117-year-old pub, abandoned cars littered the grounds and livestock grazed in once-beautiful gardens.

Helfgott, arguably Australia's best-known classical music personality, was the first performer Mr Jorgensen booked in a bid to revive the hotel's fortunes.

"He loved it up here," Mr Jorgensen said. "It was part of the public journey towards what he is today.

"Gillian and David would stay and David would swim in the pool and play the piano and swim in the pool and play the piano. I think it was very relaxing for him at the time.

"I have been inspired by having David and Gillian up here. When you think about the fractured situation that they initially started out in, it has turned out to be a positive and very fruitful 30 years for them and for me."

Mrs Helfgott, who met her husband in 1983 when he was playing at Riccardos wine bar in Northbridge, said the Mundaring shows had been vital to his development.

"When David started to play here, it was early days for him," she said. "It was wonderful for David, for raising the standard of his performing and feeling the reception of the audience.

"It was that stability of knowing we were coming here every year and the loyalty of Perth people. Without that love and loyalty, it would have been so much harder. The Weir was like a home."

Helfgott maintains a rigorous fitness routine, swimming up to three hours a day, but is easing back his touring commitments. His schedule this year still includes concerts in Vienna, Berlin, Budapest and Istanbul.

Helfgott performs at the hotel on Saturday. Doors open at 5pm and the recital starts at 8pm.

'Their support has been heartwarming over a very long period.'" *David Helfgott *