Customer Reviews

Yanni Live - The Concert Event

5 star:		(102)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

I attended Yanni's concert in Washington, DC. I have been a Yanni fan for quite a while but being there in person listening AND watching the talent on the stage was incredible. Another reviewer wrote "One played what looked like a hand-crafted wood instrument with strings"......this is a hammered dulcimer. The artist is Dan Landrum from Signal Mountain, Tennessee. He has two recordings and is a touring member of Yanni's core band. My husband plays the Hammered Dulcimer so I am familiar with it. I have never seen anyone play it so fast!!! I had the privilage of speaking with Dan after the performance. (Several musicians always come out and mingle with the attendees - great PR!)
I stumbled across the Yanni - Live! DVD while channel surfing the other night and found our local PBS (Seattle) airing the new DVD. There were several performances that did not air on PBS but I hope have been captured on the DVD. All I can say is RUN, don't walk, to get your copy. It is a spectacular concert!!! The artistry and respect that these musicians have for their craft and each other is stunning.

I was there at Manadaly Bay the night this concert was filmed and had been waiting anxiously for nearly two years to see this concert again. And this DVD does not dissapoint.

This DVD contains most of the compositions from that concert and the DVD does an exellent job of capturing the energy that was radiating through the arena that evening. Watching the DVD was like taking me back to that night, reliving that awesome concert once again. This concert is slightly different from LATA and Tribute in that this is more of a variety, jamming type of concert than the more classical type of concert he did previously. I also thought Yanni had polished his music quite a bit since I last saw him in his ethnicity tour early 2004 at Raleigh-Durham.

I gave it 4.5 stars only because Yanni cut out several of my favorite compositions from that concert...! Other than that, every Yanni fan should enjoy this DVD.

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.

This is the best of the best from Yanni. He has picked
out world class musicians and they kick it over the
top. The video and the music is spellbinding. I can
not say enough about this event.
Garland

We were lucky enough to catch this Yanni tour at Radio City in NY. It was simply amazing. Yanni had brought together musicians from around the world who are quite obviously enjoying themselves immensely while taking his music to all kinds of new places.

Pedro Eustache on various flutes is incredible, and there are several violinists who could each carry the show by themselves but together are just unbelievable. We saw a harp played in a way we had never seen it before, and heard a digeridoo become part of a full orchestra. Just amazing.

I have all of Yanni's Concert DVD's. This one includes SOME of his 'older' pieces, but also has some truley AMAZING newer pieces (Playtime, On Sacred Gound, etc)!

First off, the musicians are all VERY talented. What I love about all of Yanni's concert DVD's is he allows many of the individual musicians time to shine, they aren't just part of a large group of players.
Here you will see just HOW talented AND inventive the musicians can get.
For instance, you've heard a harp played before, but with THIS much passion and enthusiasm?! There's a piece where 2 PVC pipes are used (ala STOMP) to make rhythms that are wonderful!
The vocalists are right on! The 2 lead violinists are there for their 'duel' (like in Acropolis), which I always loved. Karen Briggs isn't on hand this time, but this IS Yanni's tour program, so possibly she wasn't available for an entire tour, BUT the 2 lead violinists do a WONDERFUL job!
There's a dulcimer player who is absolutely amazing the way he plays, and it's a great time to hear it played if you've never heard it before, OR to have is played like THIS!

Now, I will admit, I'm pretty used to Acropolis & Tribute, so when I FIRST watch this DVD it DID take me some getting used, but I couldn't put it down! I don't know where the talent comes from with Yanni, but you can SEE he really feels the music inside him. That's something wonderful to see- a composer who FEELS the music, not just conductinc others.

One note- the piece 'The Storm' is nothing short of breathtaking!
It starts off slow, with a cello solo, but it's based on Vivaldi's 4 Seasons and Yanni really punches it up! If you're not a fan of the slower classical pieces this one in particular will blow you away! The violinists really DIG into this peice and, well..I thought they'd saw their violins in half!

All in all...another spectacular, and sometimes moving concert!!!

I have, for a long time now, been a hearted fan of Yanni's work and I was fortunately enough to assist to his openning presentation of this concert US tour and still today my companion on the occasion and I treasure that concert as one of our most memorable experiences. It has been a mile stone in our lives ever since. When the presentation ended, we left the arena in a complete silence, hand in hand, as if we were still holding in that grasp all the unexplainable emotions experienced while the music and the lights were rushing within us through our eyes and ears. That is why when this DVD came out we gave one each as a present and a token of remembrance. I simply recommend this production to any music lover.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend this concert in December 2005, and to my astonishment literally held my breath in awe for much of the time! The musicians that Yanni selects for his concerts are generally terrifically talented, but this particular group has no equal! Naturally, I was absolutely thrilled to get a copy of this experience on DVD. Anyone who has an appreciation of Yanni's music will love this production. Awesome!

My first encounter with Yanni was on TV years ago when I stumbled upon his Live at the Acropolis sometime back in '98. Like most of us, I was channel surfing and stopped on PBS just when drummer Charlie Adams was doing his now-famous routine. Wow. I watched the rest of the segment and got on the phone to PBS and ordered a VHS tape (I did not have a DVD player) and just about wore out the tape from repeated viewings.

During one of my forays out to Vegas in '04, I happened to spot his opening night performance that was going to be held at Mandalay Bay. After much agonizing and hand wringing over the choices of Yanni,Mama Mia and going to din din at Paris, it was a no-brainer. I went to the box office and bought two seats for his show.

If you have never seen Yanni in performance, by all means catch a show if you ever get the chance. It might look good on VHS or DVD but in person, there is no equal. I do not know the names of all the performers but I will agree with the other reviewers in their comments. All of them did a great job that night. My favorite was Charlie Adams, the drummer, and he did not disappoint me one bit. There was a second set of drums on the stage floor that he came down to play and he opened up on his personal life which I feel added to the whole show.

Of course, I have to mention the "girls"before I sign off. These are the gals that sang the Aria and other pieces during the performance. Where DO they get those voices? Truly mesmerizing.

The show length was over 2 hours and only 1 short break about 20 minutes after it started. Upon returning to the stage, Yanni went "full tilt" for the rest of the performance without stopping. Incredible lighting, killer sound and certainly a night that I will always remember. I saved the tickets from that night as a souvenier and I am not one to do that..

Can you believe SIX curtain calls? Yanni responded to the first 5 with enthusiasm after much audience prompting, cheering, applause and whistles. He did not take the 6th as he indicated during his departure on the 5th---"Guys, I am tired, go to bed"..

What a night.