Daniela Varínska was born in 1946 in Nitra (Slovakia). She studied with Alžbeta Elanová at the Conservatory in Bratislava (1960-66) and with Anna Kafendová and Rudolf Macudzinsky at the Academy of Music and Drama. She subsequently polished her skills under the guidance of Dmitri Svetozorov in St. Petersburg and at master classes given by Helena Boschi in Weimar (1968). Her honours include First Prize at the Chopin International Competition in Mariánske Láznž (1965), a diploma at the Leeds Piano Competition (1969), and First Prize at the Competition in Musical Interpretation in Banská Bystrica (1979). The Slovak Music Fund twice awarded her special prizes for excellent interpretation of Slovak music (1986, 1991). She also received the Slovak Music Critics' Prize in 1995.
She has performed, as both soloist and chamber player, in Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, and the United States. Her repertoire comprises Baroque, classical and modern music. She has performed and recorded a great deal of music by Slovak composers, such as Ivan Parík, Ján Levoslav Bella, Egon Krák and Vladimír Godár.
She is a member of the 'Musa Antiqua' ensemble, in which she plays on a range of period instruments, in addition to keyboards. She specializes in performing on the original Hammerklavier, on which she has recorded a selection of Beethoven's sonatas.
She worked as teacher and accompanist in the Bratislava Conservatory (1972-85). She is now a professor at the Academy of Music and Drama.