Reflections of Passion

Background

Although Reflections of Passion is categorized by the RIAA as a full album, all but three of the tracks on it had been released at least once prior; the title selection, for example, had itself previously been included on Chameleon Days. Since the album sampled the most successful tracks from Yanni's previous albums, it can be seen as a greatest hits compilation.

In the album notes, the composer says, "This album represents my life's passions during the past ten years. It is an expression of love for the people in my life, as well as for some very special and inspiring places I can never forget."

Critical reception

In a review by Johnny Loftus of AllMusic, "The album that launched a thousand wind machines, Reflections of Passion established Yanni as the face of contemporary instrumental music. While 15 of its songs were culled from earlier releases, it was nevertheless the pianist and composer's popular breakthrough. It propelled him onto the world stage -- literally, since he performed concerts in such locales as the Taj Mahal and China's Forbidden City. The exotic places fit Yanni's sweeping compositions, which incorporated crashing percussion and fleets of surging synthesizers to approximate what a wind storm would sound like if it was made of melody. "Nostalgia", "True Nature" and "Farewell" all worked on simplistic, yet extremely powerful piano lines that ebbed and flowed with new age grace. Sure, things could get a bit too soft-focus; tracks like "First Touch" were like delicate menageries teetering on a high shelf. But Yanni's command of straightforward structure and melody helped mainstream Reflections immensely."

Personnel

RIAA certification

Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Gold and Platinum database entries:

Media excerpts

Star Tribune (1990-07-05) Playing with the Minnesota Orchestra has been a dream of Yanni Chryssomallis, who came from Greece in 1973 to study psychology at the University of Minnesota, where his brother already was a student there. It's coincidental that he will perform with the orchestra at Northrop auditorium, where he attended his first "U" class, Psychology 101.

Yanni, who moved to Los Angeles in 1987, has played twice with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. A video of the second appearance is being prepared for television broadcast on PBS or a cable network. Yanni plans to use the tape to convince other orchestras to perform with his quartet which includes percussionist Charlie Adams, Yanni's former colleague in the Twin Cities rock band Chameleon, and Minneapolis keyboardist, Bradley Joseph. He expects that he will work with as many as 10 symphonies this year, and then record with the Prague Symphony.

Dates

1990

Band