Performance
This was Yanni's first live album and utilizes the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra under the supervision of conductor Shahrdad Rohani, in addition to his core band. Yanni said, "Ever since I left Greece more than two decades ago, it has been my dream to return and perform at the Acropolis. This project took more than a year and a half to plan and accomplish, and I would like to thank my band and crew, and the scores of people involved in helping my dream become a reality".
In a 2004 interview, drummer Charlie Adams was asked to point out which shows stood out in his mind in the last 25+ years of working with Yanni. Adams replied, "Obviously the most exciting one for me was Live at the Acropolis. Playing in front of over 10,000 people every night, right below the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. The thing that made it so exciting was it was the first time for Yanni to be playing at home in front of his fellow Greek citizens it made you feel warm in the heart for him. Also, I was playing a drum solo in front of a majority of people who did not speak English yet responded to my drums, I really felt that the drums communicated with them, you know. Like drumming and music is in fact an international language. A great experience that will stay with me the rest of my life."
Similarly, keyboardist Bradley Joseph recounts, "When I reflect back over the years, one of the high points that stand out include performing at the Acropolis with Yanni. Imagine all these different cultures coming together with the challenges of language, equipment, travel, and weather problems. I still picture the police running their dogs through the dressing rooms to sniff out any bomb possibilities right before the show. People still come up to me and comment how that show has affected their lives."
From this appearance and others with Yanni, violinist Karen Briggs gained the title "The Lady in Red".
Read more about this topic: Yanni Live At The Acropolis
Famous quotes containing the word performance:
“True balance requires assigning realistic performance expectations to each of our roles. True balance requires us to acknowledge that our performance in some areas is more important than in others. True balance demands that we determine what accomplishments give us honest satisfaction as well as what failures cause us intolerable grief.”
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“Nobody can misunderstand a boy like his own mother.... Mothers at present can bring children into the world, but this performance is apt to mark the end of their capacities. They can’t even attend to the elementary animal requirements of their offspring. It is quite surprising how many children survive in spite of their mothers.”
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“The audience is the most revered member of the theater. Without an audience there is no theater. Every technique learned by the actor, every curtain, every flat on the stage, every careful analysis by the director, every coordinated scene, is for the enjoyment of the audience. They are our guests, our evaluators, and the last spoke in the wheel which can then begin to roll. They make the performance meaningful.”
—Viola Spolin (b. 1911)