Jean Jacques Eigeldinger

Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger, a universally recognized profile for his Chopin research and lifelong dedication to teaching, graciously accepts to answer the questions of this interview for Cremona Musica, where he received the Cremona Music Award for Communication 2023.

His professional career is filled with prestigious positions: he is an emeritus professor of Musicology at the University of Geneva, has taught at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and various North American universities. His numerous and important publications, translated into several languages, are essential for scholars in the field. Titles such as “Chopin seen by his students” and other works on the great Polish composer constitute a point of reference. It is no coincidence that Eigeldinger was also a member of the jury of the XIII Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition.

The first Italian edition of “Notes for a Piano Method by Chopin” was just published by Libreria Musicale Italiana (LIM). Translated by the attentive Luca Ciammarughi, a concert pianist, radio host, and essayist, the edition was curated by Eigeldinger in 1993 and revised in 2020, representing a significant demonstration of interest in the didactic aspect and the existence of a possible project for the construction of a Method by Chopin himself.