Live at the Acropolis | ||||
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Live album and Concert film by Yanni | ||||
Released | March 1, 1994 | |||
Recorded | September 25, 1993 | |||
Venue | Herodes Atticus Theatre, Athens, Greece | |||
Genre |
Contemporary instrumental New-age |
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Length | 69:16 | |||
Label | Private Music | |||
Producer | Yanni | |||
Yanni chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
The Village Voice | D+ |
Live at the Acropolis is the first live album by Yanni. It was recorded live at the Herodes Atticus Theatre, Athens, Greece, on September 25, 1993, and released in 1994. The album peaked at number 1 on Billboard's "Top New Age Albums" chart and at number 5 on the "Billboard 200" chart in the same year. The film spent 229 weeks on Billboard's "Top Music Video" charts and "Top VHS sales" charts, and received an Emmy nomination in 1994 for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Lighting Direction (Electronic) for a Drama Series, Variety Series, Miniseries or a Special".
In a three-year television deal with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the live television special was one of the top fund-raising subjects for PBS, raising $13 million, with more than 750,000 home videos and more than 7 million albums sold worldwide. It has been seen in 65 countries by half a billion people, and is the second-best-selling music video of all time (behind Michael Jackson's video for Thriller with 9 million units).
The composition "Acroyali/Standing in Motion" from this album was determined to have the "Mozart Effect" by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine because it was similar to Mozart's K 448 in tempo, structure, melodic and harmonic consonance and predictability.
The corresponding concert tour of the year was Yanni Live, The Symphony Concerts 1994.
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.