A native Viennese, his musical career transplanted him to Turkey, where he became an influential teacher to a generation of pianists.

[1] Statzer was born in Vienna, Austria in 1906, to a father of Hungarian-Polish origin and a mother of Austrian descent.

Following initial piano lessons with his mother, Statzer entered Mozarteum University of Salzburg, where his teachers included Emil von Sauer and Friedrich Wührer.

Some of his pupils went on to successful concert or other significant music careers; these include Mehmet Kurdoğlu, Şahan Arzruni, Ali Darmar, Verda Erman,[5] Betin Güneş,[6] Meral Güneyman,[7] Sirvart Kalpakyan Karamanuk, Arın Karamürsel, Ayşegül Sarıca,[8] Ergican Saydam and Gülay Uğurata.,[9] Janet Mafyan (mother of Alain Altinoglu) In 1972, the Austrian government bestowed Statzer with the honorary title of "Professor".

[10] Following their divorce, he married again in 1952, this time to Hungarian violinist Lilly Szekely, leader of the then touring women's music ensemble "Pogány".