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Michel Tabachnik

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Michel Tabachnik
Tabachnik, pictured 2010
Born (1942-11-10) 10 November 1942 (age 82)
Geneva, Switzerland
Occupation(s)Conductor, composer, writer
Spouse
Christine Meylan
​
(div. 1981)​
Sabine Reuter
​
(m. 1981)​
Children2
Websitetabachnik.org

Michel Tabachnik (born 10 November 1942) is a Swiss conductor and composer with an international career. A promoter of contemporary music, he has premiered a dozen works by Iannis Xenakis, among others. He is also the author of essays on music and novels.

Tabachnik has an interest in esotericism and spirituality, and beginning in the 1970s he was a member of the Golden Way Foundation and its successor group the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS), run by Joseph Di Mambro. In 1994, the Solar Temple committed mass suicide, and following another mass suicide the next year, Tabachnik was investigated and tried twice for responsibility in the OTS deaths. Tabachnik was acquitted on all counts in both trials, and returned to conducting.

Early life

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Tabachnik was born in Geneva, Switzerland on 10 November 1942.[1][2] His father was a trombonist. In 1976, the French Minister of Culture Michel Guy [fr] gave him creative control over the direction of two new orchestras.[2] He got his degree in music theory.[2]

As a young conductor he was a protégé of Igor Markevitch, Herbert von Karajan and Pierre Boulez, acting as the latter's assistant for four years, mainly with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London. This led him to become closely involved with conducting and to perform many world premieres, particularly those of Iannis Xenakis.[3]

Early career

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In June 1977, having an interest in esotericism, Tabachnik met Joseph Di Mambro, one of the two future leaders of the Order of the Solar Temple, a group notorious for mass suicides and murders in the 1990s.[4] He had been introduced with his wife Christiane Meylan to La Pyramide, a precursor group, by Nicole Koymans; he joined the next year.[5] He had two children with Meylan.[6] In 1981, he became the president of the Golden Way Foundation that Di Mambro created.[4]

Within the framework of the OTS, Tabachnik wrote the Archées, esoteric texts that circulated within the OTS.[7][8] In 1981, he switched wives with Christian Pechot, also a member of the OTS, with Pechot marrying to Meylan and Tabachnik marrying Pechot's wife Sabine Reuter, who was a student of Di Mambro.[4][9] He and Sabine moved to Toronto in 1984, as he found conductor work there, which Di Mambro used as a reason to move the group to Canada.[10] Within the group, his son David was considered one of the "cosmic children", who would form an elite population following the end of the world.[11]

He was Artistic Director of l'Orchestre des Jeunes du Québec (1985–1989) and, over a twelve-year period, l'Orchestre des jeunes de la Méditerranée [fr] which he founded in 1984.[12] He has held the position of Chief Conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, the Orchestre national de Lorraine [fr], the Ensemble InterContemporain in Paris and the Northern Netherlands Orchestra (Groningen).[12]

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Main article: Trial of Michel Tabachnik

The Solar Temple committed mass suicide and murder in 1994, killing 53 people.[13] Among the dead were Meylan and Pechot, and Pechot and Meylan's son.[4][6] Prior to the mass suicide Tabachnik had announced the end of the OTS.[14] He largely escaped negative attention following the first massacres, but following the second mass suicide in December 1995, his name made headline news. His stated defense at the time was that he had little to do with the OTS, which backfired when more evidence came out and this was found to be untrue.[15]

Despite a lack of evidence implicating him in any crime, there was a need by the French justice system to put someone on trial and Tabachnik was investigated.[16][15] This resulted in two trials in 2001 and 2006. On 25 June 2001, the court acquitted Tabachnik, on the basis that there had been no conclusive proof found of any involvement, and his writings accused of influencing the members into death were deemed unlikely to have influenced them.[17] The appeals court upheld the lower court's ruling, and he was acquitted a second time in December 2006.[17]

Later career

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As a result of the investigation related to the OTS, Tabachnik had lost most of his work as a conductor and had to pause his career.[17] Following his acquittal, Tabachnik returned to being a conductor.[18]

Since September 2005, Tabachnik is chief-conductor of the Noord Nederlands Orkest (NNO).[19] From 2008 until 2015, Tabachnik was the music director and chief-conductor of the Brussels Philharmonic.[20][21][22][23]

Speaking on his involvement with the OTS, Tabachnik appeared in two 2022 documentary series on the case, Temple Solaire: l'enquête impossible and La Fraternité.[24][25] Temple Solaire: l'enquête impossible also featured journalists Gilles Bouleau and Arnaud Bédat, both who had accused of him of being involved in the massacre.[26][27] During an interview for the promotion of the series, Bédat stated he had changed his mind and no longer believed that Tabachnik had planned the deaths, and that him being away in concert had perhaps stopped him from being killed as well.[28]

Publications

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  • Bouc émissaire: Dans le piège du Temple Solaire
  • Il était une fois un enfant, novel, publisher de l'Aire, 1999.
  • De la Musique avant toute chose, essay, préface by Régis Debray, Essai, éd. Buchet/Chastel, 2008.
  • L’Homme sauvage, novel, publisher Ring, 2013.
  • Ma Rhapsodie, essay, publisher Buchet/Chastel, 2016.
  • Le Libraire de Saint-Sulpice, novel, publisher Otago 2017.
  • L’Enlèvement au Sinaï, novel, publisher Otago, 2019.
  • Demain au Marmara Taskim, novel, publisher L'Harmattan, 2022.
  • La Pierre de Siloé, novel, publisher L'Harmattan, 2022.

Compositions

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  • Supernovae, 1967
  • Frise, 1968
  • Fresque, 1969
  • Invention à 16 voix, 1972
  • Mondes, 1972
  • Sillages, 1972
  • D'autres Sillages, 1972
  • Movimenti, 1973
  • Éclipses, 1974
  • Argile, 1974
  • Trois Impressions, 1975
  • Les Perséïdes, 1981
  • Cosmogonie, 1981
  • l'Arch, 1982
  • 7 Rituels Atlantes, 1984
  • Pacte des onze (Évangile selon Thomas), 1985
  • Élévation, 1990
  • Prélude à la Légende, 1989
  • Le Cri de Mohim, 1991
  • Évocation, 1994
  • La Légende de Haïsha, 1989
  • Concerto pour piano et orchestre de chambre, 2003
  • Nord pour orchestre, 2006
  • Diptyque-écho, Concerto pour violon et orchestre, 2008
  • Genèse, pour violon solo et orchestre, 2010
  • Lumières fossiles, pour orchestre, 2011
  • Benjamin, dernière nuit, opéra, 2012
  • Le livre de Job, 2013
  • Benjamin, dernière nuit, drame lyrique en quatorze scènes, 2016
  • "Sumer", concerto pour violoncelle et orchestre, 2019
  • "Genèse II", concerto pour violon et orchestre, 2021

References

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  1. ^ Bataille, Stéphanie (4 February 2009). "Michel Tabachnik: Autour du Sacre du printemps (Stravinsky) Paris, Cité de la musique. Jeudi 26 février 2009 à 20h". ClassiqueNews. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Vallery, Serge (18 February 1976). "Interview de Michel Tabachnik: Création de 2 nouveaux orchestres en France" [Interview with Michel Tabachnik: Creation of 2 new orchestras in France]. Construire. No. 7. Zurich. p. 6. ISSN 0010-7034. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  3. ^ "TABACHNIK Michel (1942)". Centre de documentation de la musique contemporaine. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d Clusel & Palmer 2020, p. 220.
  5. ^ Introvigne 2000, p. 144.
  6. ^ a b Bédat, Bouleau & Nicolas 2000, p. 407.
  7. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (25 October 2006). "Conductor on trial over cult killings in France, Switzerland and Canada". The Guardian. London. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  8. ^ Borloz, Emmanuel (9 July 2022). "Rencontre avec Michel Tabachnik – "Je rêve qu'on me parle de musique mais on en revient toujours au Temple Solaire"" [Interview with Michel Tabachnik – "I dream that I get approached about music but it's always about the Solar Temple"]. Tribune de Genève (in Swiss French). ISSN 1010-2248. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  9. ^ Bédat, Bouleau & Nicolas 2000, p. 406.
  10. ^ Clusel & Palmer 2020, p. 222.
  11. ^ Clusel & Palmer 2020, p. 221.
  12. ^ a b "Biography of Michel Tabachnik". Michel Tabachnik. February 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  13. ^ Mayer 2014, p. 38.
  14. ^ "L'Ordre du Temple Solaire" [The Order of the Solar Temple]. La Croix (in French). Paris. 17 April 2001. ISSN 0242-6056. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  15. ^ a b Mayer 2014, p. 48.
  16. ^ Clusel & Palmer 2020, p. 233.
  17. ^ a b c Mayer 2014, p. 49.
  18. ^ Demagny, Xavier (25 August 2018). "VIDÉO - Histoires criminelles : l'Ordre du temple solaire, 16 membres d'une secte retrouvés morts en Isère" [VIDEO - Crime stories: the Order of the Solar Temple, 16 cult members found dead in Isère]. France Bleu (in French). Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Welcome to the NNO: Past Conductors". Noord Nederlands Orkest. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  20. ^ "Michel Tabachnik: Music Director". brussels philharmonic. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  21. ^ Macassar, Gilles (23 April 2011). "La Mer, Nocturnes...Claude Debussy - Brussels Philharmonic, dir. Michel Tabachnik". Télérama (in French). Paris. ISSN 0040-2699. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  22. ^ "Quelle est la meilleure version de La Mer de Claude Debussy ?" [What's the best version of Claude Debussy's La Mer?]. Radio France (in French). 19 March 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  23. ^ "La Mer de Debussy : l'écoute en aveugle" [Debussy's La Mer: blind listening]. Radio Classique (in French). 12 May 2014. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  24. ^ Dufour, Nicolas (21 January 2023). ""La Fraternité", l'horreur de l'Ordre du Temple solaire par des survivants" ["La Fraternité", the horror of the Order of the Solar Temple by the survivors]. Le Temps (in Swiss French). Geneva. ISSN 1423-3967. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  25. ^ Papaux, Sven (8 February 2023). "Le pire massacre sectaire de Suisse au cœur d'un docu RTS" [Switzerland's worst cult massacre at the heart of an RTS documentary]. Watson (in Swiss French). Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  26. ^ Vermelin, Jérôme (17 June 2022). ""Temple Solaire, l'enquête impossible" : Gilles Bouleau raconte l'affaire qui a bouleversé sa carrière" ["Temple Solaire, l'enquête impossible": Gilles Bouleau recounts the case that turned his career upside down]. TF1 INFO (in French). Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  27. ^ Teynier, Marc (17 June 2022). ""Temple Solaire : l'enquête impossible" : Gilles Bouleau raconte «l'horreur indicible» sur TMC" ["Temple Solaire: l'enquête impossible": Gilles Bouleau recounts the "unspeakable horror" on TMC]. Le Parisien (in French). ISSN 0767-3558. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  28. ^ Schnarrenberger, Adrien (17 June 2022). ""C'est le documentaire ultime sur l'Ordre du Temple solaire"" ["This is the ultimate documentary on the Order of the Solar Temple"]. Blick (in Swiss French). Zurich. ISSN 1013-0667. Retrieved 24 July 2024.

Sources

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