Tribute (Yanni album)

In 1994, Yanni released his first live album, Live at the Acropolis, which saw him perform with his band and orchestra at the Herodes Atticus Theatre in his native Greece. It became his best selling album of his career with 4 million copies sold in the US alone. Yanni was influenced to perform at such locations while visiting his father in Greece following the success of the Acropolis concerts, who thought it was a shame "After going so far with my music, not to take it all the way around the world."[2] This led to Yanni's desire to stage concerts at other historic sites and the decision to perform in India and China, which he said took around two-and-a-half years to plan[3] and cost around $4 million.[4]

The shows at the Taj Mahal took place on three nights in March 1997, as part of celebrations around the fifteith anniversary of Indian independence.[4] A temporary concert site was constructed which involved the Indian army building bridges across the River Yamuna.[4] The shows included a light display that marked the first time the monument was illuminated at night.[3] The concerts were met with some protests against them, claiming the lighting and sound systems would harm the building and its surroundings. Some local farmers went so far to threaten to immolate themselves on the site, until a financial settlement between them, the Indian government, and Yanni, was agreed upon.[5] Yanni later said that the reports of immolation were rumours that were generated by the political dispute, and that he had met a group of local farmers and had tea with them which he said helped diffuse the situation. "And they said 'no, we're not crazy.'"[6] The Supreme Court of India threw out a case filed by the Archaeological Survey of India that tried to cancel the shows.[5] A portion of the receipts was donated toward conserving the Taj Mahal, which is affected by smoke and brick kilns.[7] The second concert was broadcast live on Indian television.[3] Yanni was particularly nervous about presenting a setlist of new music and whether the Indian public thought what he did was "appropriate and respectful toward the monument."[3]

The shows at the Forbidden City followed in May 1997 and took place at the courtyard at the Imperial Ancestral Temple. This marked the first time a Western artist in modern times was permitted perform at the location.[5] The project began after Yanni received an invitation from the China National Culture and Arts Corp. Before the Forbidden City was chosen, locations by the Great Wall of China and the Temple of Heaven were possible candidates to stage the shows. The show's promoters asked for 5,000 seats, but they had to settle for around 4,000, hundreds of which were reserved for Chinese officials.[5] A request to beam lights from inside the temple outward was denied. The crew were instructed to have the sound no louder than 40 decibels. Before the show, Yanni performed sold out shows at arenas in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Later in 1997, Yanni deemed the audiences as the best of his career.[5]

Yanni hired Armenian conductor Armen Anassian for the tour "on faith"; he had not seen Anassian perform before.[8] The conductor recalled being sceptical about the tour, "But the truth is, it happened. We did it" and said it was a "life-chaning experience."[9]

Music

Production

• Yanni – production, arranger, engineer, orchestrations
• Anthony Stabile – assistant engineer
• Tommy Sterling – assistant engineer
• Jeffrey Mark Silverman – orchestrations

• Official Website
• Tribute at AllMusic
• Tribute at Allmovie
• Tribute at IMDb