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Reportage from the Press Confernence for thw presentation of the CD 'Another Dawn' 28 March 2026

The presentation of the TSSO's most recent international success, the album ‘Another Dawn’, which was released worldwide by Berlin Classics on January 30, took place yesterday in the Central Foyer of the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, shortly before the start of the Thessaloniki State Orchestra concert. The interview was conducted in English, due to the presence of many representatives of the press from abroad.





The President of the Economic Committee of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Stathis Georgiadis, after welcoming the press representatives, noted the following: “It is our great pleasure to welcome you all to Thessaloniki, a city with a long and vibrant cultural history. It is a special honor for us to host distinguished journalists from abroad and we sincerely thank you for visiting us for this occasion dedicated to the TSSO. Tonight’s program presents the works included in our most recent recording, ‘Another Dawn’, including violin concertos by Joseph Achron and Erlich Korngold, as well as the ‘Lamento’ by the distinguished Greek composer, our friend Christos Samaras. The recording brings together an exceptional artistic team, violinist Tassilo Probst, conductor Daniel Geis and the Thessaloniki State Orchestra. Released by Berlin Classics, it continues a series of successful recordings by the orchestra, including collaborations with Deutsche Grammophon and Naxos. ‘Another Dawn’ has already received particularly encouraging international reviews. It has been described as an artistic manifesto, successfully bridging familiar and new sonic worlds, while also connecting Jewish and Greek musical traditions, connecting the past and the present in a meaningful and contemporary way. For us, this recording is not only a musical achievement, but also a reflection of our broader artistic vision to build a dialogue between cultures and bring lesser-known repertoire to the fore with depth and authenticity. Over the past two years, the orchestra has further strengthened its international presence, appearing in major European cities and prestigious venues, such as the renowned Musikverein in Vienna and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, as well as in Rome, Belgrade, Sofia, Tallinn and other cultural centers. These experiences have significantly enriched our artistic perspective and expanded our international reach. We are truly delighted to share this moment with you and hope that tonight’s concert will give you a vivid impression of the orchestra and its energy.”

Then the Director of the TSSO, Simos Papanas, took the floor, saying: “I would also like to welcome all our dear guests here, starting of course with the artists, the journalists who expressed interest in being here today, both from Greece and abroad. I want to highlight the historical importance of the recording for our orchestra. Our friends here in Thessaloniki know that our orchestra was founded in 1959 and was actually created to a large extent by a kind of El Sistema, before El Sistema, by people who went to orphanages and taught orphaned children how to play wind instruments. These people, with passion and idealism, in times of extreme poverty, demanded an orchestra and they created an orchestra. And this orchestra went through a lot of ups and downs before it became established in the collective perception of our country as a great orchestra. When we recorded one of our first CDs with Bis Records in 2004, which was probably the first CD by a symphony orchestra in Greece with an international record label, I was visiting Vienna and I saw our CD in a record store. When I came back here, I was talking to one of our top double bass players, now retired, one of the kids who was actually from the orphanage and joined the orchestra, and he was one of the ones who created a great double bass school here. When I told him that I saw our CD in Vienna, in the record store, and he started crying. Because he remembered everything, the whole path that led from the orphanage to that point. So, for us, every step in this kind of journey, in this discography, honors our history. And as we look to the future, what I want to point out, which is very important for this CD, is that this was a production that took place entirely here. That includes the sound production. And we have here with us our exarch, Antonis Sousamoglou, who was also the producer of the CD. And, in fact, if I start talking about all the special talents that Antonis has, we would need another press conference. But in this particular case, he was our producer, and together with him What I want to say, especially to our foreign guests, is that Greece has a brand for its sea, its sun and its food. But we want to get the message across that, in fact, you can do business here, and things work. And they can work at the highest level. So that is, for us, a main reason why this CD makes us very proud. I want to thank everyone in this production. Daniel Geiss, through whom the proposal and the idea came. Tassilo, who was here with us. Mr. Christos Samaras, who is also my teacher, so it is very moving for me. He is not only a fantastic composer, but someone who really shaped the musical personality of our city.”

Conductor Daniel Geiss, who conducted the TSSO both in the recording and of course in yesterday's presentation concert, said in turn: "When we started thinking about the CD, first of all, I think it was important which pieces we would include, as well as which orchestra we would collaborate with. I had collaborated with the TSSO in the past and I was really happy that we could have a further collaboration. I feel very close to the musicians now. I really enjoy working with them. I almost feel like I'm coming home every time I come here. It's this honesty, but also the enthusiasm that the orchestra brings to the work that is really moving, and very, yes, very special. With the music we chose, it's, how can I say, a very interesting journey. Achron wrote three violin concertos, one of which is performed here and there, but the other two are never performed. That also means that there is no music, there is no score, there are no orchestral parts, nothing. So, first of all, we had to take the score, the handwritten score, and we had to, from the score, recover all the different parts. We had to create the orchestral music first and also create the score, and see how that works, and whether we can really decipher everything. And then you have a piece that is not recorded, it doesn't exist, you just have to imagine it in your head, which is a very interesting kind of approach for my generation. And that was really special, to have just the score and really start from scratch. A very interesting situation. I think in this Achron concerto, it's amazing how clear his musical ideas and his musical language are. It's absolutely unique, it has its own tonal language that you can recognize immediately. Of course, it's also very demanding on the violin anyway, because it was written for virtuosos, but also for the orchestra. There are many demanding parts in the work. And what I also find very interesting is that the composer chose to write a piece that has a huge orchestra in the first and last parts, and in between he has a very intimate slow movement that we'll also hear tonight, just strings, a harp and a gong playing in it. So we have a very, very special sound that suddenly becomes very intimate, sometimes the music becomes dark, sometimes passionate and sometimes somewhere in between. Then, of course, we have the Kongold concerto. We had already worked together on this, so we were interested, because right now, Schott is in the process of doing a completely new edition of all of Kongold's works. And I think it's amazing how he adapted to a situation where he had to leave the country and be in a completely new environment and find his way, and make an amazing musical journey on that side of the Atlantic as well. And then, in 1945, he basically combined those two worlds and created perhaps one of the most amazing concertos of the 20th century. What I particularly like about this piece is how incredible the orchestration is. For example, in the first movement, he takes the violin part and puts little diamonds in the whole orchestra. Here and there he plays an instrument, a note that sticks out a little bit and plays the melody as essentially a whole line. And finding that color, so that the violin is at the center of the sound in this orchestration, I think it was a very beautiful challenge, to integrate the sound of the violin into this recording. And then we have the wonderful collaboration with Christos Samaras. It’s always a great pleasure to collaborate with a composer, so that you can really ask if you have any questions and you can talk about a piece, to find the things that you were wondering about. We had some beautiful conversations before we recorded, about music but also about life in general, which I really enjoyed. So it was a beautiful collaboration and I feel like we had talked about this piece again (ed. ‘Lamento’). The endless lines of this piece… it’s beautiful how it’s made and we really enjoyed recording it and getting to know your music. So it was an amazing journey! With Antonis Sousamoglou we had the most amazing collaborator by our side. I think nothing better can happen when you record a violin concerto, having a violinist, listening with you. And it was fantastic from the beginning to work together and find things, not only to record and make things perfect, but also to collaborate artistically throughout the recording process. And I think that shows in the final result. Thank you all so much for your amazing work on this CD."

The extremely talented German violinist Tassilo Probst, soloist of the recording and the concert, noted in turn: “I am very happy to finally be back here in Thessaloniki. Speaking about the CD program and starting with Achron, I am always asked how I came up with this piece. Most people expect an intellectual answer, but I just happened upon his second sonata a while ago, when I was thinking about a program for my debut album ‘Into Madness’, which I did in 2021. And I just fell in love with Achron’s compositional style. So I thought I definitely had to look into what else he wrote and that’s how I came across these violin concertos, as Daniel just said. He wrote three of them. The first one is performed, I wouldn’t say regularly, but occasionally. The second one, I have never heard anyone perform it. The third was performed by Heifetz, obviously. And I think there was a recording from a decade ago in Potsdam, Germany, by violinists I didn't know. And there was just a short clip, about 40 seconds on YouTube, of the third movement. And I knew that piece existed. So I searched for a recording and I found this 40-second clip. And I was so amazed by that excerpt. It's just incredible music from the first movement to the last. It's just amazing, amazing to perform. That's when I thought we should, we just have to record it. And so I started discussing it with Daniel, knowing that he also has a huge musical knowledge, and we finally came up with a suitable program, which could fit the theme of a European Jewish composer who fled to the US and then became a film composer in Hollywood, which obviously fits 100% with Erich Wolfgang Korngold, whose concerto is also on the CD. And yes, we then have the last track on the CD. Simos sent me various Greek compositions and among them was this piece by Christos Samaras, ‘Lamento’ and I thought of “Eviva”, which immediately did something to me and so we decided to record that too. When I started practicing on it, when I recorded it and now that I listen to it on the CD, for me, I have to say, it is for me the hidden gem of the CD. I love this piece so much, it is so beautifully written and I am so happy to have recorded it. Daniel Geiss is my favorite conductor. He is so easy to work with. Also, his musical knowledge is incredible, what this man knows is beyond imagination, and it is just a huge pleasure to work with him. It was also a huge pleasure to work with Alexandros (ed. Raidis) and Antonis (ed. Sousamoglou) who did a unique job on the sound quality of the CD. Let me say one last word about the orchestra. It was just such a pleasure to work with. "Always when you come back somewhere, like now for rehearsals and concerts, you rehearse, and then, you know… in Germany that never happens, but after the rehearsal, I think about 60, 65, 70 people came up to me, shook my hand, told me it was so nice to have you here again, and I, every time I come here I feel at home, so familiar, so friendly, it's always so pleasant."


Then the great Greek composer Christos Samaras took the floor, whose new work “Lamento” is included in the album ‘Another Dawn’ and spoke about it. “On the occasion of the release of the CD ‘Another Dawn’ by the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, I would like to warmly thank the Director Simos Papanas, the great Antonis Sousamoglou, as well as the amazing violinist Tassilo Probst and the conductor Daniel Geiss. ‘Lamento’ presents a series of sound images that capture moments of human life, especially the loss of loved ones. These express the feelings of sadness and emotional loneliness of those left behind and at the same time reflect the passages of human existence in the afterlife. The work is a meditation on the inner cycle of evolution through life and death. Thank you very much!”




Finally, the exarch violinist of the TSSO and producer of the CD Antonis Sousamoglou, said the following: “Simos and I are the exarchs of the orchestra, but it is a great pleasure to collaborate with him and with our different roles, he as the conductor of the orchestra and me as the producer of this recording. This is a team effort. Everyone is involved, including the musicians and the management of the orchestra. But nothing would have happened without Simos, who gave us the opportunity to meet and play with these wonderful artists, Tassilo and Daniel. And I thank him for that. As Daniel said, the works on this CD have one foot in tradition and the other in the future, as both Korngold and Achron went to the United States for a new life and transformed their music by starting to search for a new language that would combine their heritage and their new situation, a new musical language. And for me, as Tassilo said, the hidden gem of the CD is Christos Samaras’ ‘Lamento’. Emotionally I feel particularly charged with this piece. It is one of my favorite pieces for solo violin by any Greek composer, because I think it perfectly captures these two worlds, one foot in the Greek tradition, the Byzantine tradition, and the other foot in the modern world. And I am really proud that we had the opportunity to record it with such an amazing violinist like Tassilo. We all know how difficult a recording is and Tassilo really, really played so fantastically well in every take. These two made my life very easy and then in the editing process, because they had such a clear artistic vision of what they wanted to do with the music. It’s already difficult to start a recording of a work that hasn’t been performed and recorded yet. But they made it absolutely clear to me and there was no confusion, no second thoughts. It was one of the most enjoyable opportunities for me to work as a producer. So thank you for being with us and I hope you enjoy the concert tonight. Before I close, I would like to thank my partner, Alexandros Raidis, who was the sound engineer and mixed it beautifully. So thank you for this wonderful sound, Alexandros!”


 

 

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