In the autumn of 1955, Dimitris Mitropoulos, conductor of the New York Philharmonic and professor on leave from the Athens Conservatoire, returned to Athens after a long absence to lead two historic performances with the New York Philharmonic during the inaugural year of the Athens Festival. These concerts, which were the artistic highlight of the Festival, took place on October 1 and 2 at the “Orpheus” cinema-theatre, as weather conditions prevented their original scheduling at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.The day after the concerts, the Athens Conservatoire held a warm ceremony in honour of Mitropoulos, which deeply moved him. While visiting the Conservatoire where he had studied and earned his Timpani diploma in 1915, the renowned maestro discovered that the institution no longer possessed a set of timpani. Before returning to America, he decided to donate the New York Philharmonic’s timpani to the Conservatoire.
This historic set of symphonic timpani bears the name of its maker – Saul Goodman (1907-1996), the legendary timpanist of the New York Philharmonic and a towering figure in American music history. This unique set was created in 1952, which strongly suggests that the Athens Conservatoire owns the original set. Remarkably, this type of timpani remained in use by Goodman’s successor, Roland Kohloff (1935-2006), until the early 2000s.Roland Kohloff was the teacher of the soloist, professor, and Head of the Percussion Department at the Athens Conservatoire, Dimitris Desyllas. Desyllas restored the historic set, which is now fully functional and in daily use by the students of the Conservatoire’s Percussion School.
In the autumn of 1955, Dimitris Mitropoulos, conductor of the New York Philharmonic and professor on leave from the Athens Conservatoire, returned to Athens after a long absence to lead two historic performances with the New York Philharmonic during the inaugural year of the Athens Festival. These concerts, which were the artistic highlight of the Festival, took place on October 1 and 2 at the “Orpheus” cinema-theatre, as weather conditions prevented their original scheduling at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.The day after the concerts, the Athens Conservatoire held a warm ceremony in honour of Mitropoulos, which deeply moved him. While visiting the Conservatoire where he had studied and earned his Timpani diploma in 1915, the renowned maestro discovered that the institution no longer possessed a set of timpani. Before returning to America, he decided to donate the New York Philharmonic’s timpani to the Conservatoire.
This historic set of symphonic timpani bears the name of its maker – Saul Goodman (1907-1996), the legendary timpanist of the New York Philharmonic and a towering figure in American music history. This unique set was created in 1952, which strongly suggests that the Athens Conservatoire owns the original set. Remarkably, this type of timpani remained in use by Goodman’s successor, Roland Kohloff (1935-2006), until the early 2000s.Roland Kohloff was the teacher of the soloist, professor, and Head of the Percussion Department at the Athens Conservatoire, Dimitris Desyllas. Desyllas restored the historic set, which is now fully functional and in daily use by the students of the Conservatoire’s Percussion School.