THE Edinburgh taxi driver made his day. The greeting ''Hello, David'' as one of the world's most talented pianists climbed into the cab was music to the ears of a man whose earlier life was plagued by rejection.

David Helfgott, the remarkable Australian musician whose life story was movingly portrayed in the Oscar-winning film Shine, had arrived in the city on his second visit to Scotland.

Last year he played the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and this time, on the only Scottish date of his current tour, he will appear tonight on stage at the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh.

As he rehearsed yesterday, his wife Gillian recounted the tale of the friendly, informed taxi driver. ''David loves hugging people and the Scots are very special. They are more huggable than the rest of the UK.''

She spoke of the impact made on David's life by Shine, a film she maintained was of enormous help to those who had ''journeyed into the mental wilderness - a huge blessing of a film, not just to us but to so many people''. Shine, in which fellow-countryman Geoffrey Rush played Helfgott and won a Best Actor Oscar, told the story of the child piano prodigy who overcame mental breakdown as a teenager.

Helfgott has this month launched this third album, Brave New World, including works by Schubert, Chopin, and Gershwin.