Tacchino, Gabriel
Tacchino, Gabriel
Tacchino, Gabriel, French pianist and teacher; b. Cannes, Aug. 4, 1934. He was a student of Jean Batalla, Jacques Févier, Marguerite Long, and Francis Poulenc at the Paris Cons. (1947-53), graduating with a premier prix in 1953. He took 1st prize in the Viotti competition in Vercelli (1953), 2nd prize in the Busoni competition in Bolzano (1954), co-2nd prize with Malcolm Frager in the Geneva competition (1955), 1st prize in the Casella competition in Naples (1956), and 4th prize in the Long-Thibaud competition in Paris (1957). Thereafter he pursued an international career as a soloist with orchs. and as a recitalist. In 1975 he became a prof, at the Paris Cons. He distinguished himself as an interpreter of the Classical and Romantic repertoire, but won particular notice for his championship of the music of Poulenc.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire