Live: The Concert Event

• Artist: Yanni
• Rating:
• Release Date: August 15, 2006
• Type: Live
• Genre: New Age

Review

Recorded and filmed for DVD live at the Mandalay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas during Yanni's 2005 world tour, this 65-minute set delivers what you'd expect from a live Yanni album: an eclectic, cinematic fusion of world, new age, and mainstream contemporary pop styles. The 13 songs are, with one exception, drawn from releases dating back to the 1980s ("Keys to the Imagination" having been the title track of his 1986 album) all the way up to the most recent studio effort predating this recording, 2003's Ethnicity (from which three songs are presented). Indeed, a few of these same songs have shown up on previous Yanni concert albums. (The one piece that hadn't shown up on prior Yanni releases, "The Storm," is actually based Antonio Vivaldi's 18th century violin concerto "Summer.") It's well recorded -- on "125 channels of digital audio," according to the back cover -- with a two-dozen-strong cast of supporting musicians in the band and orchestra, plus a couple of vocalists adding the occasional atmospheric singing. The slick drama of both the material and the execution, in fact -- perhaps because of many listeners' associations of Yanni music with the Olympics -- makes you feel as though many of the pieces are introductory fanfares to some spectacular event. For Yanni fans, however, this sort of concert is the spectacular event. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Rainmaker	Yanni	Yanni	(5:20)
Keys to Imagination	Yanni	Yanni	(5:21)
Enchantment	Yanni	Yanni	(4:06)
Standing in Motion	Yanni	Yanni	(1:38)
On Sacred Ground	Yanni, Pamela McNeil	Yanni	(7:58)
Playtime	Yanni	Yanni	(7:07)
Until the Last Moment	Yanni	Yanni	(6:35)
If I Could Tell You	Yanni	Yanni	(4:18)
For All Seasons	Yanni	Yanni	(8:13)
The Storm	Yanni	Yanni	(5:07)
Prelude	Yanni	Yanni	(5:21)
Nostalgia	Yanni	Yanni	(4:31)

Credits

Yanni (Arranger), Yanni (Producer), Yanni (Engineer), Yanni (Orchestration), David Hudson (Didjeridu), Charlie Adams (Drums), Pedro Eustache (Flute), Pedro Eustache (Reeds), Pedro Eustache (Saxophone), Pedro Eustache (Duduk), Ming Freeman (Keyboards), Hussain Jiffry (Bass), Dana Teboe (Trombone), Dana Teboe (Orchestra), Sarah O'Brien (Cello), Sarah O'Brien (Orchestra), Norman Moore (Art Direction), Norman Moore (Design), Chris Bellman (Mastering), Richard Boukas (Orchestration), Eugene Mechtovich (Viola), Eugene Mechtovich (Orchestra), Walter Rodriguez (Percussion), Michelle Amato (Vocals), Victor Espinola (Harp), Victor Espinola (Vocals), Jim Mattos (French Horn), Jim Mattos (Orchestra), Kerry Hughes (Trumpet), Kerry Hughes (Orchestra), Jeffrey Mark Silverman (Orchestration), Kristen Autry (Violin), Kristen Autry (Orchestra), Erika Walczak (Violin), Erika Walczak (Orchestra), Armen Movsessian (Violin), Ilona Geller (Viola), Ilona Geller (Orchestra), April Cap (Oboe), April Cap (Orchestra), Zachary Carrenttin (Violin), Zachary Carrenttin (Orchestra)