Maximo Diego Pujol

An excellent piece of work of virtuoso guitarist George Tossikian. In his recording of my compositions he has managed to move through various musical genres of Argentina with remarkable ease. He has been able to render, in each one of them, the exact character, the emotion involved, and the expressive power required in order to achieve the unity of a work of art. It is a CD that I unreservedly recommend.

Clic Musique - Jérôme Angouillant

...In these charming and refined works, Greek guitarist George Tossikian shows mastery as well as sensibility..

American Record Guide - Jim McCutcheon

Tossikian brings his prodigious talents here to create a lovely, listenable recording of music by Máximo Diego Pujol. Greek guitarist has assembled four of Pujol’s major works on this disc, hence the title “Cuatro Argentinas”.. Written in memory of Astor Piazzolla, Pujol’s 3-movement Elegia por la Muerte de un Tanguero concludes with a spirited tango that quotes Piazzolla and contains many of his characteristic mood swings, all of them handled skillfully by Tossikian. This sounds and feels like authentic tango, not just an imitation, salty and without pretense, direct and cutting, then velvety and sweet. Tossikian, with an assured technique and sense of musicality, excels at bringing this tonal and very South American music to life.

Epohi newspaper, Liana Malandrenioti

Yann Tiersen’s works are hard to categorize. On the other hand, Tossikian’s interests as a performer include a very wide range of genres, from classical and various kinds of traditional music to rock, and from jazz to contemporary experimentation. And this is where I pick up the notional thread that unites these two musicians: a creative mode that is multileveled and free of rules. Tiersen’s idiosyncratic music, minimalistic, repetitive, and deeply emotional, identified with the piano keys, is invested with the charming and familiar sound of the six strings of the guitar. Tossikian listens carefully and imbues the melodies with his own sensibilities, remaining strictly faithful to the original writing. The result leaves one with the sensation that the ten pieces of the record were originally written for the classical guitar. Ten fine compositions, tender, romantic, with the famous La valse d’Amélie among them, from the all-time favourite soundtrack of the movie.

rocking.gr, Antonis Kalamoutsos

This is the first complete collection of Tiersen’s compositions arranged for the classical guitar. And indeed, the virtuosity and the expressiveness of the Greek - Armenian musician are such that you soon completely forget that you have heard these themes before(countless times) on the piano or the violin.Tossikian easily and creatively transfers the polyphonies to his fingerboard, at the same time adding a lyrical feeling of his own to the interpretation.His ethereal touch, in combination with his personal stamp on the dynamics and the fluctuation of tempos, brings out new elements in compositions that were already bittersweet.They become almost dramatic, producing an emotion equal to that of the authentic renderings.For lovers of lyricism but also for the fans of Yann Tiersen’s music, La Plage is an exquisite work, or rather, an accessible six - string poem.A disc as airy and fey as our friend Amélie!

Clic Musique - Marc Ossorguine

Since the spectacular success of Amelie Poulain, Yiann Tiersen's music has continued to transcend borders, either between countries or between genres of music.Proof is this new album with its tracks that have become so familiar. With a talent full of poetic finesse, the Greek guitarist George Tosikian plays really wonderful the short works of the composer who has just turned 50.The transcriptions he proposes expand the world of Tiersen, or rather lengthen it, with respect to the composer’s love of ellipticity, of both tender and ironic minimalism and his talent for melodies that seem so unpredictable that creates an atmosphere that suits him.After the piano by Jeroen Van Veen(also released by Brilliant) we will surrender to the enjoyment of the stories told by this music, where the union of two talents, the composer and the orchestrator - player is reminiscent of the lyrics of García Lorca, where six strings, six young ladies, three of flesh and three of silver, dance with dreams.

“Kathimerini” newspaper, Nikos Vatopoulos

The chemistry between composer George Varsamakis and guitarist George Tossikian generates a mood of great heat and controlled intensity. Their new collaboration in “Aurora” has resulted in a strikingly atmospheric album that sounds like the echo of a distant memory, or like a musical landscape with warm hollows and cool plateaus. Tossikian’s guitar produces the ripe sound of a soloist on the fine line between emotion and technique (as, for example, in “Myth of Sevan Lake”). There is a pervasive sense of narration, since Varsamakis’ music is always pictorially suggestive, and often enveloped in a cinematographic aura.

“LIFO” magazine, Antonis Boskoitis

In “Aurora”, composer George Varsamakis has had the good fortune to collaborate with guitarist George Tossikian, who has a deep knowledge of both the classical repertoire and his music. The result is fascinating, within the framework of a refined, subtle, and extremely tasteful music, free of pompous orchestration. One might add that, despite the virtuosity of the guitarist - performer, these pieces gain in emotion rather than technical perfection, which was, in any case, guaranteed. The listener cannot but wonder at the perfect match between the art of Tossikian and that of Varsamakis.

Evangelos Boudounis

“Excellent in all respects!Sound, clarity, interpretation and ethos!”

Lily Afshar

“George Tossikian played the Persian Ballads with so much sensitivity and musical taste.”

“Kathimerini” newspaper - Nikos Vatopoulos

With his new record, George Tossikian has established himself as an aspiring, hard-working, poised guitarist. His sound achieves the ideal equilibrium between the immaterial and the concrete. Through a sweet, sad aura of fluid Levantine, Jewish, Persian and Balkan melodies, George Tossikian has offered a thematic record by bridging compositions that are united by the deep, well-assimilated heritage of the “intermediate area” between East and West.

“LIFO” magazine, Antonis Boskoitis

A tasteful “Mosaic” of harmonies, poetic images and different musical traditions. There lies the talent of Tossikian: to interpret works from heterogeneous cultures and, through his playing, to unite them in a common idiom, full of lyricism and sentiment. One of the best releases for the fans of guitar and classical music!

“Eleftherotypia” newspaper, Giorgos V. Monemvasitis

Sound colors of the East, which remind us that distance in art, and especially music, exists only in our minds. Interpretations from the heart, in which sentiment and logic are in perfect balance. Throughout the recording, the musical grandeur of the East unfolds nostalgically, enveloped in a mist of sweet melancholy. The discreet subtitle “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”, the title of a film by the poet of images Sergei Parajanov, is indicative of this.

Epohi newspaper, Liana Malandrenioti

It is already three years since his first appearance in discography with the collection “Guitar Music by Greek Composers”, and, having faithfully served the aesthetic of the great Greek guitar school in the meantime, Tossikian now presents his new album “Mosaic”. The melodic pieces of this mosaic are rendered by the gifted performer with the appropriate style and sensitivity; he brings out the special timbres, stresses the various rhythms and creates a harmonious and agreeable sound.In the works are incorporated poetic images, nostalgic dances of vanishing traditions, ballads with folk tales, truth, sentiment and lyricism. One could not remove even one piece of this “Mosaic” without spoiling the picture. Undoubtedly, a very special record for the friends of the guitar and of good music.

Athinorama magazine, Argyris Zilos

As the formalistic dust that had been gathering on the guitar repertoire for years is suddenly blown away by a draught of freshness, one has to admit that here, if nothing else, the classical guitar does not open its heart to a chance interlocutor.

“Kathimerini” newspaper - Nikos Vatopoulos

The first record of George Tossikian, one of our most talented young musicians in the field of classical guitar, came as a surprise. The album entitled 'Guitar Music by Greek Composers' displays a fine selection of Greek works for classical guitar, most of them recorded for the first time. But it is not only the works themselves but, mainly, the powerful, noble and controlled interpretation of George Tossikian. Tossikian’s interpretation has an exquisite sound and his first discographic appearance occurs with an album that will make its mark.

“JAZZ & JAZZ” magazine, Kornilios Diamantopoulos

We welcome a gem of Greek production for solo guitar. The musical education of the 29-year-old guitarist is obvious, not only in his impressive résumé, but also in his sound. Having studied under top guitarists, he acquired the foundations of a solid technique that allows his innate and well-developed musicality to express itself with absolute precision. One might say that, if there was “perfection” in Art, this record would be perfect in its entirety (production, selection, artwork and -especially- interpretation).

TAR magazine, Efi Agrafioti

The selection of works is representative of our time, the sound, the aesthetic approach without academic obsessions… Music beautifully played by a gifted guitarist of the younger generation.

“Diphono” magazine, Liana Malandrenioti

With his first record entitled 'Guitar Music by Greek Composers', George Tossikian proves that he is justly considered one of our most remarkable young guitarists. Listening to this record not only makes us acquainted with some important Greek guitar composers but is also a really enjoyable experience. The diversity of style and technique of the works is brought out with true expression, rare sensitivity and high aesthetic.

“JAZZ & JAZZ” magazine, Thomas Tamvakos

The perfection of the recording, the high standard of the interpretative approach and the fine selection from a wide range of Greek serious music make it very important and indispensable, one of the best of its kind in recent years. You will listen to practically unknown - yet splendid - works for the guitar and be transfixed by the flawless interpretation of the promising soloist.

TAR magazine, Kostas Grigoreas

George Tossikian, a fine guitarist of the younger generation - equipped with all that is necessary to allow himself to claim the title of accomplished artist – made the right move: he got the right people to create, gathered previously unexploited material and, successfully completing a recording of exquisite quality, appeared on the scene with a proposal and a clear identity...’GEORGE TOSSIKIAN PLAYS GREEK COMPOSERS’... I encourage you to buy the cd! If you love the guitar and Greek music you’ll have nothing to lose.