Władysław Kędra (16 September 191826 September 1968) was a Polish pianist. Kędra was born in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

. He made his debut in 1933, performing

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

's 11th Concerto and

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

's ''Rapsodie d'Auvergne''. He graduated from the Łódź Conservatory in 1937. He took part in the 3rd

International Chopin Piano Competition The International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina), often referred to as the Chopin Competition, is a piano competition held in Warsaw, Poland. It was initiated in 1927 and has been held ev ...

, attracting juror

Magda Tagliaferro Magdalena Maria Yvonne Tagliaferro (19 January 18939 September 1986) was a Brazilian-born pianist of French parentage. Magdalena Tagliaferro was born in Petrópolis, Brazil. Her father, who had studied piano with Raoul Pugno in Paris, was a voi ...

's attention. He finished his studies in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he secretly performed banned Polish music in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. The precarious circumstances affected Kędra's hands, but he overcame this. Settling back in Łódź after the German capitulation, he took part in the 1946 Concours de Geneve and the

IV International Chopin Piano Competition The IV International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, IV Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 15 September to 15 October 1949 in Warsaw. The first competition after World War II, it was held in connection with ...

, where he was awarded a 5th prize, which launched his concert career. In 1957 he settled in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He made many recordings, and died in Warsaw from cancer. He was 50 years old.

References

Fryderyk Chopin Information Centre
1918 births 1968 deaths Polish classical pianists Male classical pianists Musicians from Łódź Prize-winners of the International Chopin Piano Competition 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century composers Deaths from cancer in Poland Academic staff of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna 20th-century male musicians {{classical-pianist-stub