Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 22, 1995 TAG: 9508230097
SECTION: WELCOME STUDENTS PAGE: WS-42 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Kansas City Star
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But you know what? He doesn't really care.
``I never walk on a stage thinking everyone is going to like me,'' he says. ``I do music the way I want to. When I go on stage, I try to do the best I can and think: Now we'll see how they like it. Hopefully, the people will respond.''
And they have responded to this guy named Yanni - in phenomenal numbers.
A few years ago, few people had ever heard of Yanni Chryssomallis, let alone heard his fusion of symphony and synthesizer. But now, after the airing of a self-developed television spectacular videotaped in his native Greece, the straight-from-a-romance-novel-cover composer and musician has legions of fans flocking to every performance.
The world discovered Yanni last March when PBS aired his television special, recorded live in Athens at the centuries-old Herod Atticus amphitheater.
The album from that performance, ``Live at the Acropolis,'' rose into the Top 5 last year and remains on the charts today after 65 weeks. The triple-platinum album (3 million-plus copies sold) has spent more than a year at the top of the New Age music charts. The accompanying video continues to sell well, hitting quintuple-platinum status.
The production in Greece happened only after two years of perseverance by the would-be star.
``I took a big chance on that one,'' Yanni says by phone from a tour stop in Oregon. ``But now I've reached an audience that is very faithful to me. That's very powerful for an artist.''
Yanni, now 40, grew up in Greece playing rock 'n' roll music. He came to the United States in 1972 to study psychology at the University of Minnesota, where he earned a bachelor's degree. When not studying, he played the piano for himself, then later joined a progressive-rock band before setting out for a solo career.
Yanni found moderate success after hitting Los Angeles. He landed a series of gigs as a studio musician and composer of jingles and theme songs. Frequent tour dates attracted a loyal following to his instrumental music.
Among the fans drawn to the often ethereal sounds was actress Linda Evans, who has since become Yanni's girlfriend - for lack of a more mature description of their relationship.
It was with Evans' support and guidance that Yanni planned the concert in Greece, a unique attempt at gaining fame. The project sidestepped radio, the traditional route for artists seeking widespread success in the music business.
Instead, Yanni envisioned a television event - he and an orchestra in his homeland with a backdrop of the historic Parthenon. Two years of planning would culminate in a one-night shot.
``There were no guarantees that it was going to work,'' Yanni says. ``When you bring the video home, you don't know if you're going to like it, or know if the recording was going to end up being a good performance. But in the end, it did very well.''
At first, a handful of PBS stations used it during their March pledge drives last year and the phones went crazy. Then public stations across the country jostled their schedules to fit it in and the album's popularity took off.
The response didn't really surprise Yanni, however, who knew the masses would accept his music if only it could reach them.
``For artists like myself who don't quite fit init's very difficult to expose the art to a wide audience,'' he says. ``This particular concert special on video really gave me the opportunity to be exposed to a large audience.''
Yanni discounts those who follow formulas, try to pattern their art after others or manipulate their music to fit the marketplace.
``You don't become you until you come up with something you've never heard, you've never read, you've never been told before,'' he says. ``That is what life is about to me, that is, knowing more than what you are taught.''
Yanni offers no apologies for his music, which some reviewers have blasted for being harmonically simple and shallow. Nor does he seek penance for not being able to read or write music.
``My goal simply is to tell the truth as I know it and entertain people,'' Yanni says. ``Past that point, it would make me very happy if I could uplift themor remind them that they have greatness inside them.''
On stage and through his albums, Yanni, who's faced his share of nicknames from critics (like Yawni and New Age Schmooze Meister), turns into an emotional motivator.
``No matter what your problems are, no matter what you're faced with, don't give in and don't give up,'' he says. ``Even though I don't try to put that in the music, that comes out anyway because that's who I am. I can't help it. Even if I tried to suppress it, it would still come out.''
by CNB