"Arundel" - there had always lain something legendary in this word since at my Libera beginning I had noticed that Libera had repeatedly performed concerts there (to be exact: 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014). So Arundel for me has the flair of being more or less their concert hometown and that's why I longed so much for experiencing a concert there. Can you imagine how electrified I was when this spring concert was announced?
The weather recompensed us for what it had done to us in Brighton in the greatest imaginable way, had started average, developed to the better day by day and on Saturday it all accumulated to a highlight in every regard. I had left home with sun under a blue sky and was welcomed in Arundel by the nicest sight of the Cathedral in the distance already at the train station. The walk from there to my accommodation was scheduled with 25 walking minutes, but I think I needed the double time, because I constantly stopped, because there are so many great views to savour. What really hit me: A number of people were extremely friendly and stopped their car in the middle of a busy causeway, when they saw me on the other side trying to take pictures of the Cathedral, and there was no traffic jam in front of them, they just stopped for being nice. That touched me; I'm not used to that.
So my stay there started fine four days before the concert and got even more so with the first night in Arundel, because during this night my regular nightmare about missing at least part of the concert due to all possible and impossible reasons took place at last!
It had been the last puzzle piece of my pre-concert to-do list, which I had already painfully missed, but now all was fine. This nightmare is completely reliable.
With their teaser tweet as of 30th May, reading "Some surprises to be performed ...", Libera had naturally produced speculations among the fans of which nature these surprises would be. They had not exaggerated with their announcement and it turned out simply fabulous! Above all, those who were besieging the Cathedral door to catch some of the music being rehearsed inside found out that, to the greatest astonishment,
Salve Regina would be performed this night. Such a nice gift! I felt happy, however, it was other news that made my heart beat for joy:
How Shall I Sing That Majesty! This song had been on my concert wish list since day 1 and so I had 1) Arundel and 2) this song. One certain song in the set list can entirely please me, no matter the rest of the concert; it was the same last year in Ely with Robert's
Ave Maria.
It was a very good concert, although for me not among the tops of the eight I have attended so far. This was due to some sound issues, while one of them may have been my personal problem: The choir sound reached me in quite an unbalanced way. I heard the different voice groups, which normally is brilliant of course; I loved that in Moscow, as it makes the sound transparent. But here it just wasn't homogeneous in terms of dynamics and colours of the different voice groups, and so I sometimes felt a need to collect these parts and adapt them in sound to one rounded whole. Possibly, this resulted from my seat being in the second row and the fact that the stage was extremely close to the audience this time. This, on the other hand, provided me with a no less than superb view on the boys' facial expressions. What I loved in that today too differentiated sound was hearing some of the boys with their natural voices! That was precious!
The second was a strangely restrained way of singing today by the in all other respects gorgeous choir, which I hadn't experienced with them before. The parts where the Libera sound usually unfurls in the familiar splendid way, seemed to not entirely develop this time; other parts lacked their usual power, what in those moments interfered with my enjoyment, because it was as if they held back emotion and this in turn restrained my own. Had they been told not to fully sing out, perhaps for their closeness to the audience? But this is so typical of their music. If so, this wasn't necessary, I find.
I liked the second half of the concert much better than the first. That careful singing was hardly there anymore. I also had the feeling that I could cope with the technical sound better or something had been changed or maybe it was due to the kind of songs? In any case, apart from the above aspects, it was a wonderful concert with lots of moments of wow, marveling and smile!
The concert started in a unique way: A boys nonet gathered far behind the altar to sing the first surprise: the Gregorian tune
Veni Creator Spiritus which was not listed in the programme. It was an attractive, unusual introduction to the concert, and I loved it exactly for that. As there is much repetition to find in Libera's concert songs, I believe that some variety in different regards are necessary and good for the audience. The boys sang very well. I had the feeling that Robert discreetly conducted them, but I'm not sure about that. They were focused on something in their middle, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Perhaps one of them led them or it was for orientation on one another. But the end of the song, its "when" and "how", was very distinctly indicated by Tadhg. Nice to listen to and interesting to watch.
This mystic beginning, like coming from another world, contrasted with the following very down-to-earth music of
Orinoco Flow, which got me back to reality.
Sanctus with Libera forming one half circle to me serves as the best opportunity to let my eyes wander from one boy to the next and take my time for everyone. It was also the first opportunity for Sam to shine - and it shone in plenty of songs that night! He has a beautiful, clear voice and sings with vigour, and I loved to hear him sing soloing so often.
That
Angele Dei had disappeared from the set list so soon! How can certain things be possible at all?!
But Robert had been nice with us and included it in the set list again. Phew! And how funny: Here and there I had reflected who from the current line-up I could imagine as the new soloist on this song and had thought of Dominik, for he has got that special voice, sounding a bit enigmatic and
Angele Dei has that mystic element, so that fits. And yes, it turned out to be him in fact!
Dominik's tone developed beautifully during the song and I especially loved those phrases that demand a very good technique to seamlessly link the individual notes, as he sang them in a splendid way! These are small, but important musical moments for me, and when they are sung as well as Dominik sang them, they resonate in me still long after the concert.
The next song was
The Prayer. Daniel doesn't stop impressing me with his mature, well-guided voice and still this voice and his outer appearance don't yet match. His voice has an incredibly grown-up tone, and so does his interpretation. Now he has received another main solo with
Angel which I'm very glad about, as I like this song better than
The Prayer. What I do like in the latter is the thoughtful calm with which Libera sings it.
Salve Regina - the very surprise of the evening. Although there's nothing in this song that could prevent it from being performed live I think, I never counted on actually getting it live and I have no idea why. There it was and when the first sounds arose from the orchestra with that characteristic tune of the oboe, I still couldn't believe that all this was real. Tadhg treated this tender song with great care and during the choir parts I profoundly enjoyed the deeper register, as always.
Sam Coates did such a fantastic job with his arrangement of
From a Distance. The central lines for me are "From a distance, you look like my friend even though we are at war. I cannot comprehend what all this fighting's for.", and hearing these children sing them touches me every time. It remains a song I prefer live and less the recording. All was fine.
Oliver M. has continuously improved on
Stay With Me, but the song which was like tailor-made for him this night appeared later in the next concert half. Sam sang first-class vocalises!
I always wait for
Voca Me and if they sang it two, three or more times at the same concert, I wouldn't find that exaggerated, as I just don't tire of this song. I have already said that Sam had massive homework today which he skillfully delivered; only this song was less his this night. The intonation he managed fabulously in each of his other songs didn't turn out the same here. Maybe he got a bit nervous as a result from being so far away from the others, alone with these highly demanding vocalises. If so, I totally sympathise with him, because I know such a reaction from myself too well and, in any case, he handled it far better than I'd ever be able to.
In the interlude vocalise, he missed the first line, which I actually found funny, yeah, this is live!
At the same time, I felt scared that it would unnecessarily discourage him, but this admirable Sam just continued with the next line as if nothing had happened. Wow!
I watched that several times also with others: In case a line got a bit shaky, they never let themselves get distracted by it, they focused on what was coming next and that's exactly the right thing to do, as they always found back to their beautiful tone quickly. Nothing got lost in the music itself. Amazing how professional they are, very well trained for their concerts!
One word about the lighting: Directly before
Voca Me's climax my favourite Libera concert colours appeared: blue and green combined.
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On the climax itself, it changed to white. The music for me wanders to an unknown destination and then unexpectedly arrives, and the light entirely matched that: First softer and darker colours, then the contrast of plain white like suddenly recognising a pure truth that can't be denied anymore. Great effect, very creative!
The lighting in general was, as usual, perfectly adapted to the conditions of the venue. There were two statues on the left and the right, which were integrated in the lighting. Nice! And I was wondering what it must feel like to direct the lighting or the sound at a venue, where you yourself were on stage as a Libera member once under that light and provided with the technique by others.
Joyful, Joyful joyfully closed the first concert half.
The second half was the one with the goosebumps. There were many songs which were just irresistible, each of them moving me in a different way
As mentioned, I was so super happy that Libera sang
How Shall I Sing That Majesty today. I had trusted to hear it live one day, but when I became aware of that before the concert, I couldn't believe my ears and my luck. It was the first song after the interval. Dominik walked on stage alone and started to sing and then the others joined. Is that unique? Definitely, it was an appropriate idea to start the song as well as the new concert half.
How Shall I Sing That Majesty is a magnificent song, one of those with an exceptionally beautiful verse melody, all calm there, followed by the flourishing chorus, a real Libera song, one of my all-time favourites. Now I am so hopeful to hear it in their concerts for a long while. Choir and soloist sang brilliantly - first goosebumps!
Wonderful World had been taken up again and Victor was the soloist. I really like this choice. There's such a relaxed gladness expressed in this song by words and music which he perfectly mirrors with his own calm and joyful look. An ideal pairing in mood and message once more. He sang very nicely and I sank into the song and let the pleasant days I had spent in Arundel pass by before my inner eye, while Libera delivered the best soundtrack.
If I remember correctly, it was
Wonderful World and also the next one,
In paradisum, where the finalising notes were excellently held. These long notes at the end sung by a soloist, who is furthermore hardly or not at all accompanied, are a real challenge, but it's so essential for the music that it doesn't break off. Victor and Oliver mastered that without the least sign of effort or need of breath and it was just wellness to listen to that. They were not the only ones who did it flawlessly in this concert, but it hit me especially in these two songs.
It shows that the boys are able to guide the tone plus it closes the song in a good, rounded way.
In paradisum was another highlight from several in a row. It was great to see Oliver WR sing it. I've been his special fan since he sang
How Great Thou Art, I like his round voice just so much! I am also very happy with his interpretation of
In paradisum. Interesting observation: The two notes which were hard for Rocco were not easy for Oliver either and now I believe that this is due to the lyrics, "angeli" and "suscipiat". These "i"s are very difficult so sing in that register and the "n" might close the voice instead of opening it. I am convinced now that it's not a height issue, as neither Rocco nor Oliver had any problems with reaching the even higher note in the refrain, on the contrary. Therefore, it's obviously not the personal vocal capability, but a matter of the singing technique used. I'm very glad about that. It's really a hard bit to be sung.
I loved this song again in Arundel! We had already heard it from outside, during the sound check, where it had sounded highly promising, and the promise was kept. Oliver always stands there in his calm (can "laid-back" be used here?) way and intensifies this moving song with his wonderful voice. Simply, without forcing anything he sang the melodic bows in one pour, just as it should be; this entirely captured me! And as mentioned above, the final note was exquisite, too! After the song, I felt a need to tell him straight away how marvelous this had been! The duet Oliver/Sam was very enjoyable as well.
In my early Libera times it felt so unusual to me to notice sadness in other fans, sometimes even quite a bit when the soloist of a song had changed. With time passing, I could relate to that and this time ... I regretted not to get Oliver WR with
How Great Thou Art again, because his voice is ideal for it (btw, I can imagine his voice for
How Shall I Sing That Majesty, too, while I do not intend to take anything away from Dominik's performance). On the other hand, Mathias was really fine for this song and the boys' changes are not only sad, but exciting and make the whole thing more vivid.
Every time I forget that only the first verse is a solo part. I listen and already look forward to get that a second time in the next verse - and then I realise that there's none anymore.
I will have to savour it more consciously next time. - Mathias has a very good, strong voice. I rely on hearing more from him!
I like
Always with You, yet I don't often feel like listening to it at home and it never made me especially wish to hear it in concert. But how wrong you can be when it comes to a live experience! The truth is that it became my favourite song of the night for the beauty of the rendition. Oliver M. has never soloed so well! He has audibly developed and here enchanted me with his singing. The song simply fits him, and in my opinion much better than
Stay With Me.
The next surprise's turn! There was a boy standing far in the back for the vocalises and his singing was just stunning, absolutely exact notes! The light illuminated his face, and I tried to prolong my neck to recognise who that was, but at the end I had to believe it: It was more or less a newbie, Luca, as I later learnt. I was particularly amazed that such a new boy had a solo which he performed so fabulously. There was a distinct portion of reverberation added during his parts. When I had heard that one time at another concert and suspected (not sure!) it was to support the soloist being at the point of his voice change, then this time it seemed to be a stylistic device: It caused an enormous effect of spatial depth towards the back of the altar room, a strong impression of three dimensions of which the depth was extended the most. The first time I've felt this way during a Libera concert. The beauty of Luca's performance together with Oliver's gently flowing voice caused another goosebumps, a superb performance in every regard resulting in only one thought inside me: Repeat this song, please.
We were lucky enough to hear more from Luca later.
Somehow,
Amazing Grace always seems to me like a testing song for a newer soloist, which sometimes turns out to be a stepping stone towards bigger tasks eventually. But maybe I'm just fantasising. This time Cassius sang the solo verse, and I was very impressed. He hit the notes greatly and has a very nice, clear voice. I want to get rid of this song in the concert set list, nevertheless I did enjoy hearing Cassius sing and certainly there's much more to be expected from him, which I'm looking forward to!
"Liberaaaa ..."
Oh yes!
Oh no!!
There's always this ambiguous sentiment in me when these notes arise. I love Libera and
Libera. But this song in a concert always indicates the nearing end. As I don't follow the written set list and don't bother about what time it is nor count the songs, but let each song just come to me, I'm never aware how far we are in a concert. But the initial sounds of
Libera don't leave a doubt, so every time there's that big joy to hear it mingled with inner sighing and regret.
I can't count the surprises anymore - Libera brought us another one and its name was Neo. Wow, he was so good!
He first sang the second voice of the duet to Tadhg's main part and I so loved that combination. Later he sang the "Aeterna"s. A golden voice, very beautiful, and all along his joy-spreading smile! He always looks like he is in best mood.
The song surprising me the most was
Poor Little Jesus, as summer had just begun and they presented us a Christmas song.
But with the upcoming Christmas CD it's obviously not so far-fetched ...
The song was performed in a cappella style, but not fully, which is not unfamiliar to us. I like this interspersing of "minimal music" in the Libera concerts and broadening their musical variety that way. Now it was time now for Luca's second solo, singing one of the verses. I found him brilliant. His voice is clear, slender and secure, his intonation was perfect. I'm curiously waiting for more of him to come.
Poor Little Jesus was the right song to get calm before the finalising
Exsultate. I missed the bodhrán here, not only for the entertainment with two musicians playing cheerfully on stage - only Eimear stood there this time -, but it seemed to me that its replacement was the drum of a drumset, coming from somewhere left behind the stage. Not sure about the instrument though. The sound arriving at my ear in this Cathedral's acoustics was pulpy and therefore lacked the transparency which adds the appropriate groove to the song. - Sam sang a worded solo here and I think he deserves more of that kind. One day I'd love to also hear him with a song of more lyrical style, he makes me curious.
During
Smile, today's encore, there was a lot of smiling after Robert took his baton under his nose or even between his teeth, I couldn't exactly make that out. And Tadhg even had something to laugh with another Libera boy I couldn't see either, but he just couldn't stop laughing with that one. Victor sang this-"his" song as well as we know it from him, and it was so good to hear and watch Alex G. with the deep doubling part. I do prefer his deep voice to his former one.
Some notes on the boys:
I need to closer watch Calam next time. I haven't been aware of him in particular so far, but at some point later in the concert my attention suddenly was drawn to him and then I couldn't let go: His eyes were sparkling in an indescribable way! He seemed to stand out from the whole choir simply by these eyes full of enthusiasm while singing. Fascinating to see.
Libera does not only dispose of excellent singers, but of very capable speakers, too. There are several of them, but outstanding for me in this regard is Joe. He has a pure voice with a particular sound I like a lot, and it's powerful. I find his speech melody super-pleasant to listen to, and he excellently emphasises the words. I enjoy listening to his speeches as if it was music.
I also like to watch him. He just looks so satisfied on stage! He doesn't carry that broad smile Victor or Neo own, instead he has a deeply pleased look on his face, which seems to express total accordance with his Libera life. Once more I'm amazed that these boys are able to transfer a calming effect to myself, not only through the songs, but through their interpretation and personal traits they reveal on stage.
Talking of speeches, one of my highlights is Tadhg every single time with his introduction of "the
real Moose!" or this time "The.Real.Moose!"
He virtually throws these words into the audience! - The price for making me laugh the most - and it still does - went to Victor this night for his oh so funny way to present their 'travel destination' Bournemouth. Believe me, it was unique. He listed some of their far distance destinations in an excited tone, then let a dramatic pause follow ... and added, lower: "... and Bournemouth". He did so in such a bored tone that it immediately made me think "Boringmouth". It was best comedian style.
Thank you so much for the laugh, Victor!
As mentioned above, I was seated on the right side, this in doubled sense, because there was not only much to watch in the choir on this side, but all the mini-boys gathered here, before the stage, when it was their turn to sing. I really had hit the jackpot with that!
Libera had seven new mini-boys on board and Hal is only six years old! That's so small for singing in such a challenging group, but I guess it's increasingly recommendable, facing the fact that the voice changes tend to take place earlier nowadays. The oldest member of this concert's line-up was 13, as we learnt from one of the speeches. Hal was fully in his musical duties! Very, very concentrated all the time, but with the broadest smile when he was called on stage to receive an extra applause for being the youngest. Otherwise, he was an engaged singer, without being completely sure about the lyrics (or maybe it was the tune), as the according mouth movements frequently came a split second too late.
How cute it was to watch that and more - he was so absorbed by the concert that once, when they positioned in front of the choir for the next song, he was still clapping, together with the audience, while the other mini-boys had long stopped. Aww!
There was another boy whose name I don't know yet, but he looked so similar to Jack that I wondered all along if they are brothers. This boy thoroughly wanted to sing the whole concert and not only such mini-boy light version and also not only the parts defined for the choir in the songs they sang all together, and why should he, when he knew the lyrics so well?!
I saw him sing while sitting on the bench and listening to the others, I saw him sing when it was a song for all, but not his turn, and once I caught him co-singing with a soloist!
To my astonishment, the other mini-boys ignored him doing so; only in one of the last songs his neighbour to the left had enough and gave him an annoyed bump, upon which the singing boy obediently stopped, but looked severely displeased. Infinitely adorable, all that! And I felt the impulse to console him: Soon, soon, only a few months until you can sing it all and maybe there's even a solo part one day looking forward to you.
The mini-boys were obviously directed by Barbara to indicate at what time they had to come or go and where to leave for the interval. At least, I'm not aware of Robert giving them a sign, but I may be wrong, I always forgot to look out for it. After singing they separated into two groups to sit in the first bench on the left and the right side.
Since I could see them from so close this time, a large part was covered with watching them and I was deeply touched to see how attentively they were listening to their big colleagues on stage. They behaved in an absolutely disciplined way and seemed to actively listen and not just wait for their next entrance. I think they will fit in Libera very well.
Now I have talked so much about soloists, speakers and mini-boys, but the one who deserves a huge shoutout above all is the choir as a group! Throughout the concert, I was amazed once again by their pure sound and their staying 100 % in pitch each moment. I can't admire that enough! Also their interaction as a group - and a choir that moves around all the time must interact a lot - was lovely to watch.
I attend many concerts and usually, I am in a joyful mood afterwards, often motivated too, but one thing is unique with Libera: I leave every concert stronger than before! Thank you, Libera and Robert, for what you bring about in me with your music, with your joy of singing, with each and every concert!
I caught myself smiling during the concert again and again. To you who were not with us at this concert, but will attend in the US or in Japan: There is so much to look forward to I can't tell! Many new remarkably good solo voices, change of roles, a widespread set list, a choir in wonderful form. If you feel the most possible anticipation, it's just the adequate degree!
And now, after such long read, you deserve some relax:
- During my stay, I visited Chichester Cathedral. There is a special sarcophagus with two sculptures of a couple, the male being a knight. After reading the explanation to that, I suddenly had "When A Knight Won His Spurs" stuck in my head and it stayed there for the rest of the day.
- In the concert programme the lyrics of Exsultate are incomplete. I've never realised that it already was the same at least in Ely 2017. The "Exsultate, Jubilate" lines are missing.
- I bought a signed programme which contained even two signatures by "COB"! Another fan found pointed that out as very welcome and said: "So you got one of them for free." Oh, how privileged I felt!
But seriously: I
am privileged. I have found Libera.
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- Arundel 2019-06n.JPG (82.92 KiB) Viewed 6815 times
and had to correct that in my review after reading Yorkie's. Perhaps it consoles you! This closes the circle and you are obviously not as old as you thought! 
