WEEKEND REVIEWS : Pop : Yanni Gets Large Sound From Happy Band

You’ve got to give Yanni credit for one thing. He’s probably keeping more first-rate musicians employed this summer than any organization this side of the Boston Pops.

*

And the 40-piece orchestra he brought to the Universal Amphitheatre on Friday and Saturday seemed eager to reward him for their three months of steady employment by performing with a precision and enthusiasm rarely heard on the pop music stage.

Does Yanni need an ensemble this large? Probably not. His music--often described, not always accurately, as New Age--is based primarily on romantic melodies interspersed with highly energetic Mediterranean rhythms.

His regular group, featuring the fiery violin of Karen Briggs, generally handles it quite nicely, but the addition of full-scale orchestral timbres, arranged for the most part by conductor Shardad Rohani, added both emotional intensity and panchromatic colorations to the music. Yanni’s decision to travel with the same band of players, instead of picking up local sidemen at each location, has clearly produced elegant musical results.

Friday’s program was very similar to that performed on his current hit recording and video, “Yanni Live at the Acropolis.” But even without the magical presence of the spotlighted Parthenon in the distance, the concert emphasized the importance of the spirit and the soul of Greece in Yanni’s music.

Although he prefers to identify himself as a citizen of the world rather than a Greek, Yanni’s music is most appealing when it pulsates with the off-center rhythms and keening melodies of the Peloponnesus.

Frequently using a sampled sound much like that of the bouzouki, Yanni played his improvisations--especially in the up-tempo numbers--with an articulated phrasing typical of Greek music. Even his slower pieces, despite their soaring sentimentality, tended to avoid harmonic complexity in favor of insinuating modal lines.

In its best moments, the music, in combination with a stage set that suggested ancient Grecian monuments and an atmospheric lighting scheme, called up strikingly effective images reaching well beyond the touchy-feely characteristics commonly associated with New Age.

If there was a problem, it was the tendency of Yanni’s audio engineers to prefer the bass, keyboards and drums over the richer sounds of the orchestra.

With his mane of jet-black hair and his trademark white outfits, Yanni played the matinee idol to perfection, bounding on stage, throwing kisses to the crowd, responding to questions (mainly about his love life) and indulging the fans’ good-natured affection. It was a commanding performance from an artist who appears poised to make the leap to the superstar level.