''Live at El Morro, Puerto Rico'' is the fourth live album by

Yanni Yiannis Chryssomallis ( el, Γιάννης Χρυσομάλλης; born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni ( ), is a Greek-American composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer. Yanni continues to use the musical shorthan ...

, released on the Yanni/Wake label in 2012. The two concerts were performed outdoors on the grounds of El Morro castle in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

in December 2011. The CD peaked at #1 on '' Billboard's'' New Age Album list in both 2012 and 2013.

Background

''Live at El Morro, Puerto Rico'' was recorded and filmed during two sold-out concerts performed outdoors on December 16 and 17, 2011, on the grounds of the

Castillo San Felipe del Morro Castillo San Felipe del Morro, also known as El Morro, is a citadel built between 16th and 18th centuries in San Juan, Puerto Rico.ww ...

("El Morro"), a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in the

Old San Juan Old San Juan ( es, Viejo San Juan) is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the islet of San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Catedral, Marina, Mercado, San Cristóbal, and San Francisco sub-barrios (s ...

. Yanni had reportedly planned for twenty years to perform at the historic site. Yanni explained that two concerts were planned, for Friday and Saturday night, with the ensuing Sunday being a contingent rain day. It reportedly rained for 25 days in a row preceding the first night's concert on Friday, and the first concert itself was interrupted and eventually cut short three-quarters of the way through, by rain and wind causing danger for the outdoor performance. The evening of the second show, Saturday, the weather was better and the show was completed as planned. Yanni said that 35 cameras, and three live camera operators, were able to capture the show. Departing the island on Sunday, the planned rain day, Yanni noted that it was raining and he could not have carried out a make-up concert then. Yanni later remarked that "the weather became part of the show," but that it was the first time in his thirty-year career that a concert had been stopped. To individuals affected by the Friday evening concert that was cut short, the concert's production, José Dueño Entertainment, offered rain checks on tickets towards the next Yanni concert in Puerto Rico or any other José Dueño Entertainment production, and a certificate valid towards receiving the concert DVD. The concerts involved sale of over 10,000 tickets, and cost $3 million to put on. The concerts were the subject of special broadcasts on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

beginning in March 2012, the video having been recorded in high definition. The production was Yanni's tenth collaboration with PBS. The ''Live at El Morro, Puerto Rico'' CD peaked as '' Billboard's'' #1 New Age Album (2012 and 2013), at #109 on the ''Billboard'' 200 (2012), and debuted at #52 on the Canadian Albums Chart.

Album track listing

CD:

DVD track listing

Video DVD: ''DVD Extras:'' * Yanni in Puerto Rico * Making of the Show

Musicians and vocalists

''Musicians:'' (alphabetically) * Charles Adams: drums *

Benedikt Brydern Benedikt Brydern started as a musical protege on the violin giving his first public concerts at the age of 10. He lives in Los Angeles now and composes for film and the concert hall. He has won numerous awards and competitions. He studied with fi ...

: violin *Jason Carder: trumpet and flugelhorn *Yoel Del Sol: percussion *

Víctor Espínola Víctor Espínola is a Paraguayan multi-instrumentalist and singer, best known for playing the Paraguayan harp. His style of music is influenced by a combination of flamenco, gypsy, Brazilian, Middle Eastern, African, pop and dance. He has ...

: harp *

Ming Freeman Ming Freeman (born 24 October 1963 in Taiwan) is a Taiwanese-Canadian multi-keyboardist and pianist, musical director, composer and producer who has toured or recorded with artists such as Joni Mitchell, Yanni, Ronnie Laws, Chuck Negron, Jeffr ...

: keyboards *James Mattos: French horn *Sarah O’Brien: cello * Mary Simpson: violin *Dana Teboe: trombone *Gabriel Vivas: bass *

Samvel Yervinyan Samvel Yervinyan ( hy, Սամվել Երվինյան, born January 25, 1966) is an Armenian violinist and composer. Biography Yervinyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia. He began studying at the age of 7 in Spenderian Music School under the tuto ...

: violin *

Alexander Zhiroff Alexander "Sasha" Zhiroff (born 13 April 1951 in Ishim, Soviet Union) is a Russian cellist whose performing career has included appearances as a soloist with orchestras in the United States, Russia, Cuba, recitals in major concert halls, and reco ...

: cello ''Vocalists:'' (alphabetically) * Lauren Jelencovich * Lisa Lavie

References

External links

Official Website''Live at El Morro, Puerto Rico''
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...