Yanni Live - The Concert Event

My local PBS station aired the Yanni concert. Yanni is in concert at the Mandelay Bay in Las Vegas. The show was spectacular! From the very first note, it drew me in and didn't let go until almost 90 minutes later. Yanni conducts an orchestra made up of masterful musicians from around the world. The variety of styles, tastes, and backgrounds adds a spice to the music that just cannot be artificially created. Take the Armenian violinist for example -- this man is the Monet of violinists. The notes and melodies he crafted were nothing short of breathtaking. When he is performing in a duet with a female Japanese violinist, it brought me out of my chair. And she went toe-to-toe with him playing more notes faster and faster as the duet went on. I thought they would collapse in exhaustion from playing so hard. Meanwhile, she is smiling as she is playing! That woman is amazing. Seeing two extremely skilled violinists just pushing each other to perform better was exciting. The flutist from Sri Lanka, who makes his own flutes, was utterly amazing. How he made such harmonious and delicious notes come from that tiny piece of wood, I will never now. His enthusiasm for his music was expressed in his work. The harpist (right words) does a vocal piece that...wow. Then later in the concert, he makes the harp practically dance. The notes that came from that harp...wow. He does motion where he runs his hands through all the strings on the harp -- it creates a unique and pleasing to the ear sound. The female vocalists had voices like angels that just floated through the arena. Michele Amato was one of the vocalists and her voice just...it washed over me like a soft wave. Ramon, who played a horn (or trumpet, I don't know) added a Cuban or Carribean/Latin feel. There were two other people, whose names escape me -- One played what looked like a hand-crafted wood instrument with strings. I had never seen such a thing before and couldn't believe the warm and soothing sounds that came from it. There was also a violinist who does a little dance while playing. The audience exploded in applause when he does the dance. The camera work in the concert includes 16 hi-def cameras that are crystal-clear on an HDTV. The lighting is excellent, as usual, with a Yanni concert. The director has cameramen stationed throughout the arena and sprinkled within the orchestra. The shots of the audience as they go through a range of emotions -- excitement, sadness, reflection, warmth -- just add to the experience. Seeing so many people be moved by Yanni's music...Wow. I highly recommend this DVD for any Yanni fan. As a bonus, after the concert, there was about 15 minutes of behinds the scenes footage. It showed Yanni and the orchestra practicing as Yanni explains the diverse backgrounds in the orchestra and how they arrived here.

Well, I certainly waited a long time for this! I expected this DVD out around 2000 since the first concert tape was out n 1994 and the second in 1997. Then, after attending one of his concerts in 2003, I thought that a DVD would be our for sure but the wait continued until late 2006. Most of the songs, thankfully, are new material. How much other new stuff I heard in the three-hour Buffalo concert I attended that wasn't on this DVD, I don't know but I'm not complaining. There are a couple of surprises in here, such as two solo violinists, a dulcimer player, and a flashy harpist-singer. A shock was not seeing violinist Karen Briggs on this DVD. She had always been a staple in Yanni's tour concerts in the past 10 years and - next to the Yanni himself - the key performer and most recognizable one in past DVDs. However, Sayaka Katsuki, from Japan, who replaced her, is just fine. Katsuki and Armenian violinist Samvel Yervinyan make a dynamite duo, with the Russian being the best of the two, I think. He is fantastic. Both of them do a number of solos.. The most versatile and best musician in the entire band is Pedro Eustache, who was with Yanni in his 1997 concert in China and India. He is still animated, talented and fun to watch. You can tell he's Yanni's right-hand man. Not far behind is keyboard player Ming Freeman, another holdover from the China concert. Of the new songs, the driving-beat, fast selections seem to be the best and generate the most enthusiasm among the crowd. Songs such as "Rainmaker," "On Sacred Ground," "Playtime," "For All Seasons" and "World Dance" will all have you tapping your feet, moving your hands, etc. They are great feel-good songs and perhaps the trademark of these Yanni Orchestra presentation. Of the older songs, the re-make of "Nostalgia" was tremendous, thanks to the added dramatic violin work of Yervinyan. This is just a fabulous concert, filmed in Las ?egas sometime, I think, in 2005. I watched this 7-8 times the first two months I owned it and loved it more and more each time. I just hope the next Yanni DVD doesn't take another 9-plus years to be released.

I streamed this show as a gift to my wife who can't decide who she loves more... Yanni or David Copperfield. As soon as we settled down to watch I was struck by the colors and lighting. I had not realized so much effort would be put into the background of this production. My amazement did not stop with production efforts though. It was apparent from the opening number that this would be a great experience. It was very clear as the program developed that Yanni was surrounded by wonderful musical talent. From the Kazoo type of instrument from down under to the rhythm dance performed with large poles, we were able to see specialty performances of great quality. A male singer who also performed harp solos, unforgettable violin pieces by a group of performers, bongo and trumpet solos, beautiful melodic background voices and solos on a couple of instruments I can not name all combined to make this a special event for my wife and I. The performances of the entire crew were outstanding. Camera work was excellent, and it was obvious to me that cast, crew and audience were all enjoying themselves immensely. Yanni has gained a new fan in me, and I don't care if my wife can never decide between him and David.

What is great about this Live CD is.. you not only get the fantastic music of Yanni, but you get the well worked light show, and to see his face,his expressions,and to see this.is to know he really loves what he is doing. I checked so many stores to get this CD and no one had it..Thank Goodness for Amazon, within a few days there it was, and I was sitting enjoying it. From now on..no more of even thinking of going to check out stores. It's Amazon or nothing.. Lynne Muise

Hello with all impassioned music!, I got from France this DVD to the US. It`s a zone "0"; DTS 5.1. _ Image: NTSC, with the format 16/9, I have a Faroudja treatment for image, it is thus a vision "of postcard" without chalk-lining that I have with the screen, quality is comparable with a successful Superbit, no defect compression, all plans are equal values, the distants ones like nears, similar with all the cameras and the "travellings" of those. The public (standing ovation by enthusiasm) profits from an identical image, a must !. I did not see such a beautiful image of concert much, being understood that there are lasers, but they do not obstruct of anything the image. _ the sound: very hot, the subwoofer is well animated, but I have "to increase it a little", the instruments are well routed, reverberation of the room, that surprises !. _ Artistically : This concert is less "philharmonic" that of Athens, more popular, here it is not negative. . Yanni is very relaxed, he's him which acts as leader while playing !, he kept some "sizes": the famous beater (drums) in the concert: "Live at the Acropolis", on keyboard the same musician of Asian origin as in Beijing in the concert "Tribute", then a "small Japanese woman" virtuoso of the violin, other musicians play with unknown instruments of me. On "flute" one recognizes the musician in the concert of Beijing, always the concert "Tribute". The "movements" are very tinted of Mediterranean music, here Yanni "raked broad", he said it in his concert. the maximum musicians of origins and different phylosophies, in a title - for example- is a fort beautiful moment of "Country music" etc. This concert is with being advised bus in more there is a strong complicity between the musicians. The back-singers do an excellent job !. the violoncellist him also in the concert of Beijing, still the concert "Tribute", made prowesses. In short, that good !. _ Defect: too short concert, damage: approximately 78mn (running time), but there are surprises in bonus tracks..., starting from track 7, of the extracts in DTS! are present, which is rare bonus tracks. _ Conclusion: I spent a very good music moment !. Sorry for my bad English !.

DVD of a 2006 concert in Las Vegas. Quality is as to be expected from this medium, and the concert is terrific. A great addition to my collection.

Excelente imagen, excelente sonido, alamente recomendado.

This has to be the best of the 3 concerts Yanni has released. It is, in one word, EXCITING! If you can watch this sitting still, frankly your body temperature must be somewhat subpar. Some of the pieces are repeats from prior concerts, but are far more refined versions. Yanni's newer pieces are STUNNINGLY INFECTIOUS. Not only are the compositions rich with concentrated fun and elevated tempo, the perfomers are in every sense world class. The performers, in his words, "bring Beauty, Strength, and Color" to his music. Quite apparently they have the latitude to add in their individual character, rather than merely following a score. It is interesting to watch Yanni connecting with them with gesturings throughout. It is interesting to watch the obvious JOY in their faces while giving their all. It is also interesting to find that same joy in the faces of the audience.

兎に角バイオリンが良い。香月さやかさんって言う日本人のバイオリニストの活躍も嬉しい。各パートのミュージシャンが良いパフォーマンスをしていて素晴らしい。何度見ても最高って言いたい。Ｙａｎｎｉに感謝だ

Was not terribly fond of Yanni. OK in small dosis but a bit over the top ... or so I thought. Watched a couple of extracts from this concert (by sheer coincidence) in YouTube and I have now just finished listening in the main HiFi system to the DVD that I bought as results. Absolutely spectacular!. The quality of the production and the musicianship of these people are very impressive, as is the range of songs and styles. Love it and would recommend it to anybody who wants to see real people playing real music using real instruments.

This concert is one of the best concerts I have seen in my life! Music is so powerful and clear it will give you goosebumps. Try to see it on a big screen TV and good set of speakers and it will blow you away. This DVD has a DTS sound available. Yanni put together a band that brought his music to the next level. You can find the videos of the event on youtube: [...] , however youtube has it at very poor quality but you can get the idea. Don't think if you seen Acropolis concert it is enough! This is 10 times better! Enjoy!

DVD difficile da trovare ma molto bello in qualità Blu.ray. Lo consiglio certamente a tutti gli estimatori di questo splendido artista ma anche a quelli che lo vogliono conoscere.

Un gran concierto con una calidad de imagen y sonido muy buenos. Es el directo que mas me ha gustado de Yanni.