Background
Malcuzynski, Witold was born on August 10, 1914 in Warsaw, Poland. Son of Witold and Maria (Bortkiewicz) Malcuzynski.
Malcuzynski, Witold was born on August 10, 1914 in Warsaw, Poland. Son of Witold and Maria (Bortkiewicz) Malcuzynski.
Graduate Warsaw Conservatory, 1936. Studies with I.J. Paderewski in Morges, Switzerland, 1937. Student law, philosophy, Warsaw U.
His playing was marked by great passion and poetry. He was the older brother of Karol Małcużyński, a Polish politician and journalist. He began playing piano at the age of 5, starting regular lessons four years later.
Originally, he intended to study law but switched to music, studying under Józef Turczyński.
In 1936, he received an invitation to study under Marguerite Long and Isidor Philipp in Paris (France). When World World War II began, he was in France.
There, he joined the artistic-propaganda section of the Polish Army and visited military camps. After the capitulation of France, he and his newly wedded wife escaped in a sealed traincar to Portugal, where he met the conductor Grzegorz Fitelberg, who offered him a tournée in South America.
Małcużyński went to Argentina in October 1940.
In April 1942 he relocated to the United States. Essential to his American career was the violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who initially helped him with management issues. After the war, he moved to Switzerland.
He died in 1977 in Majorca, Spain, and was buried in the Powązki Cemetery, Poland.
He was a member of the jury of the International Chopin Competition in 1960 and 1970 and the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition (Belgium) in 1960.
Married Corlette Gaveau, October 1939. Children: Marie Pierrette, Christine.