Małcużyński Witold, *10 August 1914 Warsaw, †17 July 1977 Palma (Mallorca), Polish pianist. He studied piano at the conservatory in Warsaw with J. Lefeld (1929–32) and J. Turczyński (1932–36), and law and philosophy at the University of Warsaw (1932–34). In 1936, he took 5th place at the international piano competition in Vienna, and in 1937, he won the 3rd prize at the 3rd International F. Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, for which he prepared the program in 1936–37 under the direction of I.J. Paderewski in Morges, Switzerland. He then studied with M. Long and I. Philippe in Paris. The outbreak of World War II found him there. In the fall of 1939, he married the French pianist C. Gaveau, whom he met during the Chopin competition, and then he made his debut in Paris at Pasdeloup’s symphony concerts, causing enthusiasm with his performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor. After the capitulation of France, he and his wife escaped from the Nazi troops to Lisbon, then went to Argentina. In 1940–42, he gave concerts with great success in South American countries. Thanks to Y. Menuhin’s protection, he received an invitation to New York, where in April 1942, he performed Liszt’s Sonata in B minor at a recital at Carnegie Hall, which was praised with great praise by the influential American critic E. Downes. In 1942–45, he performed in the United States with the most famous conductors: S. Kusewicki, D. Mitropoulos, P. Monteux, F. Reiner, A. Rodziński, G. Szell, and P. Paray. Together with B. Huberman and G. Fitelberg, he gave several concerts of Polish music in New York and Montreal. In 1945, just before the end of the war, he performed for the first time in London; then he gave concerts in Europe, again in both Americas, and finally in Australia, India, and Ceylon. In 1949, he inaugurated the Chopin Year with a recital at Carnegie Hall in New York and went on a world tour with a Chopin programme, culminating in a concert at the Palais Chaillot in Paris. In 1958, he performed for the first time after World War II in Poland. In 1959, he contributed significantly to Poland’s recovery of the Wawel treasures and other national memorabilia stored in Canada, including Chopin’s manuscripts. He received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and the honorary title of citizen of Krakow. He was a juror at the International F. Chopin Piano Competitions in 1960 and 1970. He lived in Argentina; from 1945 in Switzerland.
The basis of Małcużyński’s repertoire was classical and romantic music, especially Chopin, Liszt and Brahms. He also eagerly read works by Szymanowski, Scriabin, Debussy, as well as Bartók and Prokofiev. He was a great performer of late Romantic piano concertos: A major by Liszt, B-flat minor by Tchaikovsky, D minor by Rachmaninov, D minor by Brahms (recordings of these concertos conducted by W. Süsskind, N. Malko, P. Klecki, F. Rieger for Columbia constitute – next to recordings of Chopin recitals and Liszt’s Sonata in B minor – the most significant part of Małcużyński’s discographic output). E. Vuillermoz wrote after Małcużyński’s Paris debut about his “infallible tact, taste and intelligence,” “accuracy and elegance of his phrasing,” O. Downes, after his debut at Carnegie Hall, about his “span,” “grand style,” “visionary inner fire.” Małcużyński represented an individual interpretive style referring to the great Romantic virtuoso tradition, characterised on the one hand by an unerring sense of dramatic form, great emotional ecstasy, ardour, pathos and spirituality, and on the other – simplicity and naturalness, reflective concentration, focus, and subtle lyricism. Małcużyński’s perfect piano skills did not withstand the destructive effects of time; an artist praised in times of triumph for the mastery of technique, melodiousness and power of tone, in the last years of his life, he faced severe criticism.
Literature: B. Gavoty W. Małcużyński, London 1957; B. Pilarski W. Małcużyński o swoim métier, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1959 No. 7; B. Pilarski Lekcja wielkiej pianistyki. O stylu wykonawczym W. Małcużyńskiego, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1959 No. 11; K. Regamey W. Małcużyński, Kraków 1960.
