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.

Worth the price of admission! Many upbeat songs and great violins.

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