Yanni Voices Live From The Forum - In Acapulco

By 2008, Yanni had sold millions of records and shattered attendance records on world tours. Yet, he felt the need to evolve. Having spent most of his career as an instrumentalist, he wanted to explore the human voice as an instrument. The result was the Voices album (2009), a studio project featuring lyrics by Ricardo “Rie” Ferrell.

But Yanni is not a studio-only artist. He needed a visual spectacle to launch this new direction. He chose the Forum in Acapulco (Forum del Sol) for several strategic reasons:

The result was released as a DVD/CD combo on November 17, 2009 (DVD) and February 2, 2010 (Blu-ray), instantly becoming a collector's item for fans of crossover classical and world music. yanni voices live from the forum in acapulco

The Forum in Acapulco (technically known as the Forum de Mundo Imperial) is not just a concert hall; it is an amphitheater designed for sensory overload. Built into the landscape near the famous Punta Diamante, the venue is famous for its open-air design that allows the Pacific Ocean breeze to flow through the seating area.

Yanni chose Acapulco for a specific reason: intimacy and atmosphere. Unlike the massive, ancient ruins he usually played, the Forum was a dedicated music venue. The sound is acoustically dialed-in, and the lighting rigs can create a "nightclub meets symphony" vibe. Furthermore, the Mexican audience is notoriously passionate. You can hear that passion bleeding through the microphones on this recording—cheers erupt not just at the end of songs, but during quiet piano runs, a rare occurrence in Yanni's normally reserved live albums. By 2008, Yanni had sold millions of records

While the audio CD is excellent, the DVD/Blu-ray release of Yanni Voices Live from the Forum in Acapulco is the definitive way to experience it.

From a production standpoint, Live from the Forum in Acapulco is a marvel. The mix, handled by Yanni’s longtime engineer, captures the roar of the 12,000-person crowd without swallowing the delicate harp arpeggios. The DVD cinematography utilizes drone shots (rare for 2009) along the cliffs, pulling back to show the vast ocean during quiet moments, reminding the viewer of the natural majesty that surrounds the artifice of the stage. The result was released as a DVD/CD combo

Critically, Voices was a slow burn. Upon its release on CD and DVD, it initially confused purists who longed for the "pure" sound of Live at the Acropolis. However, over a decade later, Voices is now regarded as a high-water mark for Yanni’s middle period. It is the album where he proved he wasn't afraid to give up the spotlight to the human throat.

The title Voices is the key to unlocking this performance. Yanni’s early work (like Keys to Imagination) was purely instrumental. While he used human voice as texture, he rarely featured lyricists. Voices changed that. Frustrated with the limitations of purely instrumental storytelling, Yanni recruited a powerhouse ensemble of international vocalists, including Nathan Pacheco, Chloe Lowery, Leslie Mills, and the incomparable Ender Thomas.

The premise was simple yet radical: take the sweeping, cinematic instrumentals his fans loved, and graft soaring, operatic, and pop vocals onto them. The risk was that vocals would date the music or distract from the complex orchestration. The reward, as heard in Acapulco, was a broadening of emotional range that silenced the purists.

Chloe’s presence is ethereal. This track, which sounds like a Disney ballad, is transformed by the live string section. The video footage from this concert (available on YouTube) shows Chloe walking through the aisles of the Forum, engaging with fans, a logistical feat that proves how intimate the venue is.