Czerny-Stefańska Halina, *31 December 1922 Kraków, †1 July 2001 Kraków, Polish pianist. She took her first music lessons from her father S. Szwarcenberg-Czerny. Czerny-Stefańska was a student of J. Turczyński at the Warsaw Conservatory until 1939, and in 1938 she also received consultations from E. Petri in Kraków. After the war, she continued her studies at the State Higher School of Music (now the Academy of Music) in Kraków, initially with H. Sztompka, then with Z. Drzewiecki (1945–1949). In 1934, she was awarded first prize at the Competition for Young Talents in Warsaw and scholarship for a master’s course at the Ecole Normale in Paris under A. Cortot. In 1949, she won the first prize (with B. Dawidowicz), as well as a special prize for the best performance of mazurkas at the 4th International F. Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. She was a soloist with the Kraków Philharmonic from 1955. From 1971–1981, she was president of the Kraków branch of Stowarzyszenie Polskich Artystów Muzyków.
She made her public debut at the concert of Polish Radio in Kraków, and in the same year, she took part in the inauguration of Chopin concerts in Warsaw. From 1949, she performed in many countries in Europe, America, Asia, and Australia under the baton of P. Klecki, A. Boult, Z. Mehta, G. Solti, among others. Her repertoire ranged from Baroque to contemporary music, but her concert programmes were dominated by works by the Viennese Classics and the Romantics (especially Chopin). She also practised chamber music out of passion. Her last recital took place on 8 March 2001 at the Academy of Music in Warsaw, as part of a concert in memory of J. Turczyński as part of the series Nestorzy polskiej pianistiki.
She began pedagogical work in the 70s, teaching master’s courses for pianists in Weimar, Darmstadt, Hamburg, Lugano and Tokyo. From 1978 to 1981 she taught piano at the I.J. Paderewski Music Academy in Poznań. In the years 1999–2001 she was a professor at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, while also collaborating with other Japanese universities: Elizabeth University of Music in Hiroshima, Nagoya Arts Academy, and Senzoku Gakuen Uozu University in Toyama. On her initiative, a series of 12 concerts covering the entire oeuvre of F. Chopin performed by Japanese artists took place in Tokyo in 1999, and a festival combined with an international piano competition was organised in Aumori. Czerny-Stefańska was a member of the jury of many international piano competitions, including the F. Chopin Competition in Warsaw (1960, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000), the A. Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv (1986), The Leeds International Piano Competition (1987), National Chopin Piano Competition of the United States, Miami (1994), the M. Long and J. Thibaud International Competition in Paris (1995), International Music Competition in Pretoria (1996), International P. Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1998), K. Czerny Piano Competition in Prague and J.N. Hummel International Piano Competition in Bratislava (1999).
She has made numerous radio and CD recordings, mainly of Chopin’s music, including for: Supraphon (Concerto in E minor with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by V. Smetáček, 1955), DGG (mazurkas, 1955, Concerto in E minor with Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by W. Rowicki, 1958), Polskie Nagrania (Preludes, 1959, Rondo in C major for 2 pianos, with L. Stefański, 1960), Erato (Songs with T. Żylis-Gara, 1985), Radio Corporation America (Nocturnes 1987), Pony Canyon (Mazurkas 1989–1990, Andante spianato and Polonaise in E flat major with National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by K. Kord, 1994, Rondo in C major for 2 pianos, with R. Kobayashi, 1995), Selene (CD entitled Polish Dances containing: Polonaise in A major and Mazurkas, Op. 24 by F. Chopin, Grande Polonaise, Op. 6 by J. Zarębski, Krakowiak, Op. 5 No. 3 and Cracovienne fantastique, Op. 14 No. 3 by I.J. Paderewski, 2000).
For her activities, she received, among others, 1st (1950) and 2nd (1952) class of Nagroda Państwowa, Order of the Banner of Labour 1st class (1953), Order of Polonia Restituta (1959), a diploma from the Minister of Foreign Affairs for promoting Polish culture abroad (1982), the Order of the Builders of People’s Poland (1984), the Medal of the 40th Anniversary of People’s Poland (1984), the title of Zasłużony dla Kultury Narodowej (1987), and the Order of Friendship of Peoples awarded by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1987). In 2002, the F. Chopin Society in Warsaw honoured her posthumously for “promoting the music of F. Chopin in the world”. Competitions for young pianists in, among others, Żagań, Płock and Ajigasawa (Japan) bear her name.
Her husband was the pianist Ludwik Stefanski (1917–1982). Her daughter Elżbieta Stefańska is an outstanding harpsichordist.
Literature: L. Kydryński Halina Czerny-Stefańska, album, Kraków 1963; S. Dybowski Laureaci Konkursów Chopinowskich w Warszawie, Warsaw 2005; S. Dybowski Halina Czerny-Stefańska. Epizody z życia chopinistki, Warsaw 2006.
