Yanni Live at El Morro, Puerto Rico is the name of two live concerts, a live album CD, a video DVD, and a PBS television special of contemporary instrumental composer and musician Yanni. The two concerts were performed outdoors on the grounds of El Morro castle in San Juan, Puerto Rico in December 2011.
The Yanni Live at El Morro, Puerto Rico CD peaked as Billboard's #1 New Age Album (2012)
Yanni Live at El Morro, Puerto Rico was recorded and filmed during two sold-out concerts performed outdoors on Friday and Saturday, December 16 and 17, 2011, on the grounds of the Castillo (Fort) San Felipe del Morro ("El Morro"), a UNESCO World Heritage Site in San Juan, Puerto Rico.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. For the favorable weather on Saturday, Yanni later remarked, "Somebody was looking over us, that one night."
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, Yanni offered tickets for his next concert in Puerto Rico, and a certificate to receive 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 beginning in March 2012, the video having been recorded in high definition The production was Yanni's tenth collaboration with PBS.
The Yanni Live at El Morro, Puerto Rico CD peaked as Billboard's #1 New Age Album (2012), and debuted at #52 on the Canadian Albums Chart