A student of Edwin Fischer, Badura-Skoda first rose to prominence by winning first prize in the Austrian Music Competition in 1947.

Indeed, he is the only person to have recorded the complete piano sonatas of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert on both historic and modern instruments.

His frequent collaborations with Demus included several duet recordings and performances, and a book on the interpretation of Beethoven's piano sonatas.

Badura-Skoda also collaborated with Frank Martin, producing editions and recordings of his music, and several articles on it.

The Badura-Skodas edited one of the volumes of Mozart's piano concertos for the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe (Serie V/Werkgruppe 15/Band 5, consisting of K. 453, 456, and 459).