Libera Dreams

Thanks for the comprehensive reviews, they are very much appreciated by all. Quite a lot of changes and new faces to get up to scratch with, it could take some time Nice that Libera could facilitate a M&G at a UK concert again. I expect it could only happen on a Friday/Saturday night concert during term time, and that's after everything else is in place.

Yorkie wrote:Carol of the Bells had solo parts by Gabe & Alex G but it was little Romeo that stole the show with his reprise of the Cassius ending!

I wonder if that puts mini-boy Romeo in the running for the youngest member to have a concert solo part after Isaac's 'Happy Christmas to You' solo at the end of Himig Ng Pasko aged 8yrs 9mths? I guess we'll never know unless the ages are revealed. #libstats

Looking forward to any video's that might emerge and curious about the 360 filming. Roll on to the new album next year.

fan_de_LoK wrote:

TullyBascombe wrote:The Oliver from Spain, was that Oliver M or the newbie, Oliver W-R?

Oliver M is from Poland.
He did the languages speech instead of Alex G during the tour in the Philippines in February, when Alex was absent for some reason.

Olivier W-R is from Spain.

I thought as much. In one of the videos from the Philippines he's speaking Polish to a fan.

Thanks John, Dani, Yorkie and Muffin for your impressions of the concert!

Between the new song, new soloists, new choristers and new technology for the director there was a lot to
take in. I'm happy you all got to enjoy it and happier still that you took the time to describe the concert
to those who were unable to go.

I do hope Alex G keeps Wayfaring Stranger long enough for me to see him perform it.
Would also like to hear Total Praise now that RP has had a lot of time to work with the song.
His tinkering made the live performances of Love and Mercy grow on me, I hope for the same
magic on this one.

Thanks to everyone for posting reviews of the concert, I really enjoyed reading them.

tom413 wrote:...new technology for the director...

I was wondering if this was in fact by choice? I noted Robert walked towards his music stand, looked surprised that his music was not in place, turned and walked away. He then returned with the "new technology" - a backup to the old hardcopy perhaps? Not that it matters either way, it was just something I picked up on

One other note here on missing choristers. Shay Balsekar and Henry Cullinan-Hollihead were also absent.

Thank you everyone for your reviews. After reading through them I am shocked at how much I don't remember, and I had a really good seat thanks to Yorkie. I will try to remember what stood out for me and post as soon as I can get organized.

As I mentioned in the above post, I’m shocked at how much I don’t remember about the Christmas Concert at St. George’s. I’ve been trying to remember details about the songs and the soloists and I can’t place any individual or duo into any specific song. Perhaps I should’ve taken notes as others did. I’m reluctant to do so because I feel it’s a distraction that would keep me from immersing myself in the music. But, there are some things…...

As another reviewer already reported, there is of course the crash of something falling over at the very outset of the program which fortunately, didn’t put the boys off at all from entering and beginning their concert.

When the mini-boys had filed out in front of the stage for their first song, I couldn’t help but notice one of them (the one with no front teeth) had a look on his face that was sort of between fright and “what am I doing here,” or at least that’s what I thought I saw. As the evening progressed he did seem to relax.

Kudos to Alex G on his solo in Wayfaring Stranger. When this song was first done in Washington, D.C., Sam W sang the solo, he did it so well that it gave me chills. Alex G has matched that and more. His performance also gave me chills, which I didn’t expect. I think it was his rendition, his voice had a sad, lonely texture to it that set the emotion of the song. That's the best I can describe it. A fine performance, well done lad. I hope we see more of him in solo parts in the future.

I tried to pick out the boys performing the descants through the various songs, spotting Alex M. (who I think did most), Gabe C., and I think in one instance, Alex G. I’m sure there were others I didn’t catch.

Well into the program, it was becoming apparent that some of the mini-boys were having a tough time staying awake. One youngster in the right hand group, looked like he was about to fall asleep standing up. His eyes would close for several seconds at a time, he looked like he was struggling.

My seat was in an interesting location, row D. It placed me close to the stage with the sound system at row C to my far right. It was a unique setup, I could hear the boys singing on stage and from the speakers at the same time.

The tables for M&G (signature session) were setup in a horse shoe configuration in an adjacent room. I had my calendar, program and CD, ready for the action. Greeted each boy by name, some just looking at me and smiled, others returning the greeting as they set their initials to my calendar. I asked Romeo if he had fun singing on the stage with the big boys, he grinned and reply, “yeah.” He’s so small it’s a wonder he didn’t get lost in all thous towering white robes.

All in all, a great concert and experience.

The calendar has beautiful portraits of the boys set in groups. If you don’t have one, go to libera.org.uk/shop and get one or two or three…. (gifts)

Thank you all for the reviews!

Thank you Tim for your review! So glad you had a good time.

TimS_TheToolman wrote:My seat was in an interesting location, row D. It placed me close to the stage with the sound system at row C to my far right. It was a unique setup, I could hear the boys singing on stage and from the speakers at the same time.

Did you find that off-putting at all in an acoustically dissonant sort of way? Just curious.

JimmyRiddle wrote: I wonder if that puts mini-boy Romeo in the running for the youngest member to have a concert solo part after Isaac's 'Happy Christmas to You' solo at the end of Himig Ng Pasko aged 8yrs 9mths?

Good catch! It just might.

Thanks for your review Tim, glad you made it to London and back in one piece - hopefully your trip was worth it for the one great concert.

Didn't Isaac London have a solo at age 8?

TullyBascombe wrote:Didn't Isaac London have a solo at age 8?

The first time I remember Isaac was at the concert in Arundel in 2012 I think (singing Far Away). I think he was 9. Entirely possible he had a solo before then but I don't remember it.

According to a source at the Libera Facebook site, Isaac was 8 years and 9 months old when he sang the last line in "Himig Ng Pasko" in the Philippines in 2011.

Amie_Hill wrote:According to a source at the Libera Facebook site, Isaac was 8 years and 9 months old when he sang the last line in "Himig Ng Pasko" in the Philippines in 2011.

Thank you Amie (and Jimmy who now I read back actually has this exact same info in his post asking if Romeo is the youngest soloist)

At one point I thought of doing a statistical database; youngest/oldest soloist, most solo's, TV/stage/concert appearances etc... but probably just as well now because their birth dates are generally not given out unless with some promo/touring material. It wouldn't be consistent over time.