Customer Reviews

Live at the Acropolis (CD & DVD)

5 star:		(184)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

This concert from evening of September 23, 1993, must have been a wonderful event to have experienced...the VHS of it is a polished gem that will never go out of style. The professionalism and musicianship is outstanding, and the setting is magical...with 2000 year old arches surrounding the open air stage, and the amazing structures of ancient Greece lit up against the night sky.

Shardad Rohani conducts the London Royal Pholharmonic Concert Orchestra, as well as doing a terrific violin duet with Karen Briggs, the super violinist member of Yanni's fabulous group. Her solos are a knock-out, as well as those of the rest of the band, among them Charlie Adams on drums, Ric Fierabracci on bass, and Michael "Kalani" Bruno on percussion.

Yanni looks stunning and plays beautifully on a grand piano, as well as an assortment of keyboards...you can tell he is also leading the entire show...and it's quite a show.
There's a touching song he sings for his mother Felitsa, who sits in the audience, next to the gorgeous Linda Evans, both of them glowing with pride.

Directed by George Veras with 14 cameras, the editing is a marvel, a constant flow images that keeps one's interest and works to perfection with the music...the concert is an hour and 35 minutes long, with an added 5 minutes of backstage interviews.

This is one to take out of your tape library once in a while, and wish you'd been there, on this very special night under the Grecian stars.

I'm not a fan of "new age" music. However, I am a fan of Yanni Live at the Acropolis. The location of this concert is under the ancient Greek parthenon. The production of the show is great, the lighting makes the ancient theatre seem like it's in the same shape as it were in its prime. I saw this on PBS a long time ago and I haven't lost interest in the music since; the DVD reaffirms to a greater extent. Something special took place at the Acropolis that night and the video recreates most of the show.

The DVD is in 5.1 digital audio and the sound is superb. Yanni's music is awe-inspiring moving, and emotional. The concert was Yanni's return to Greece from his long departure to America. The emotions are flowing, he dedicates a song to his mother; the band and especially the violinist in the red dress play amazingly. Finally, the concert ends with Yanni addressing "a thought" to the audience concerning the human condition and ends the show to a standing ovation. One can only wonder what the ancient Greeks would think of this show after viewing Yanni: Live at the Acropolis. I think that they'd like it. I recommend this to anyone.

I think Yanni has envisaged this album for all kinds of people. The scores chosen are really excellent and appropriate. All the artists are given equal chance to exhibit their skills. Especially the violinist - Wow!

Santorini is a real grandeur. The music just flows. I just recalled the moment I heard Yanni for the first time - it was Santorini. I was so thrilled to see Yanni playing it and I was not disappointed. It is a double-feast for I could feel not only the music but also the beauiful scenes of the structures from Acropolis appropriately picturized for the song. But unfortunately, this feast ends here itself.

Keys to imagination, Within Attractions and One man's dream are fantastic. Aria is another masterpiece. Felista is a nice song for his mother. The End of August is to end the nice evening with a style.

I think Yanni has given his best for this album - as he says. But I found two things missing in the DVD version: the sound effects are not all that good when compared to the CD version. The visual effects, especially lighting in most of the times, jazzy.

Indeed a great experience. I felt, sometimes, as if I were in Greece.

The video is very clear, with excellent color, and few artifacts -- especially considering this was filmed at night. The camera angles are excellent, and place the viewer right in the action.

The sound has 2 options: stereo and 5.1 surround. I was skeptical of the 5.1 surround, but it makes for a wonderful room-filling experience, and the 2-channel option is avaliable for those who prefer it (but keep in mind this was not recorded accurately, so 2-channel is not going to be more accurate).

The surround channels are used wisely, and there are no loud passages coming from them; they provide ambience, as one would hear sitting in the Acropolis listening to the show.

This is just an excellent disc to own, and I am glad it is finally available in the USA. I look forward to "Tribute", when that is available.

When I first saw this performance on PBS in '93, I was blown away by the sheer majesty of the music. Yanni's music had always bored me to death, but this live performance packs such a wallop to his music like never heard in the studio. Adding in the Royal Philharmonic gives much more stamina to his music. And you know his core band members are so into this that they put so much more energy into the performances that just couldn't be captured in the studio.

I bought this on VHS right away and played it until the VCR was smoking and eventually blew up! Later on DVDs hit the medium and as I saw and heard the visual and sonic potential of these little CD-like discs from earlier releases like the DTS enhanced Eagles "When Hell Freezes Over", I knew this concert video would be a prime candidate for a major DVD concert release.

Sadly, this release ended up being the most disappointing DVD I ever bought. The 5.1 mix is absolutely horrendous. Instead of utilizing the 64 track digital audio master tapes, they simply used the 2 track video soundtrack and artificially created some sort of surround mix that's completely out of balance. The rear channels seem to only come out of one side, so you're not getting a true multi-channel mix. The only way to reasonably listen to this is in the 2 channel PCM mode. Still sounds good, but the potential was completely wasted.

From what I've understood from Yanni's website, was he had no control over the production of this DVD. We can only pray that a complete re-master will eventually be done with his supervision. What a waste!

I sure would like to see whether a DVD version with more special features (e.g., the TV interview with The Woman in the Red Dress [you GO, Girlfriend!]).Since I R&D and design home theaters, I have carefully calibrated equipment and a visually and acoustically tweaked studio.VERDICT 1: THE PERFORMANCE IS A FIRESTORM AND A "MUST SEE" VIDEO!Merely energetic isn't the word here; in my view Track 7 on the ACROPOLIS CD, "Within Attraction" is the bomb! The dueling violins were masterful and-one-of-a-kind.VERDICT 2: THE AUDIO RATES ONLY 4 STARS.The engineering was probably competent and digital, so a re-issue on HDCD or of TelArc's 20-bit surround quality is possible now. But a DVD gives you the whole enchilada. CD audio is superior to DVD in some ways due to the format--even played back in Dolby 5.1 Digital.VERDICT 3: THE VIDEO ENGINEERING IS SERIOUSLY FLAWED.On a direct view Sony 36" XBR Wega professionally calibrated to NTSC standards by ISF-certified tech, the VHS edition had far too much "red push" (this may be a bad tape-to-firm transfer) but as of 1994, videorecording digitally has been available; I cannot believe that Yanni didn't have the concert thus recorded.Therefore, I would like to see a digitally-corrected DVD from the master. If he did not record video digitally, we're out-of-luck and those "blooming" red PAR lights in the arena will never get cured absent playback on high end professional gear. BOTTOM LINE: ****Yanni fans need to ask the powers-that-be at PRIVATE MUSIC, 9014 Melrose Avenue,Los Angeles, CA 90069, to come up with a remastered re-issue of this VHS linear-track-audioperformance. I'll do my part, as I am only 1/2 hour away by freeway. But a little help from Yanni fans would be very useful . . .John Bartok Bastian, CEOFEAR NOT ENTERPRISES N.A.

If you're going to buy one Yanni DVD this would be the one. It's just plain excellent in all aspects of performance, production, & songs. Anything Yanni did after this production (either CD or DVD) just illustrates how he suborned his artistic talents and started chasing the dollar.

This concert is breath taking, Yanni has the best musicians and a violonist that has enough talent to be on her own. Very well produced, worth every penny of it. I was able to fully enjoy in the comfort of my living view, this grandiose performance!!! Kudos for Yanni and his ensemble.

If I had to pick 10 CD's that were the very essence of passion this would be one of the top picks!

I saw Yanni first playing live on TV as I was "channel surfing" and I was frozen in my seat, completely entralled by his passion and originality. I went straight out the next day and bought this CD. Rarely does any music reach out and Grab my heart the way Yanni does; oh if everything were as romantic and passionate as his music!

My personal favorites are: 1 ONE MAN'S DREAM 2 REFLECTIONS OF PASSION 3 UNTIL THE LAST MOMENT 4 NOSTALGIA and 5 THE RAIN MUST FALL.

Whether you are a hopeless romantic, or a firey aggressive person this is the music for you!

I whole-heartedly recommend Yanni's music for the entire world! There is so much beauty. No words are needed.

Inspiring. He has the backing of a great philarmonic orchestra and two virtuosos on the violin. Track number 7 is great, the two violin players it is as if they have a competition who will play faster. And the last one (reflections of passion) is propably one of the best songs he has ever composed. it was my wedding song. If you are planning to visit Greece get this cd and take it with you. you will be able to understand Yanni's music even more.