St John's Smith SQ Concert 2022 - Dec 4th

[Luckdragon]

Can anyone tell me who did the solo part of Gaudete which was held by Luke B-D at the 2021 SJSS concert?

Yorkie said it was Freddie back on Page 5.

Edit: But Paddy below says it was Frederick (Howarth).

[Padmachou]

Hi everyone. Here comes my full extensive review. I wrote it in french first, as Yorkie suggested, and I have to admit it was quicker to write in French first, but now I have to translate it. Sorry for the mistakes to come. The power blacked out while I wrote this so there was no online dictionary support

I am very grateful I got to attend this concert, and that I got to spend time in the cold in front of SJSS as well, listening to the boys through the wooden door. This was a fantastic momentum for reasons I shall explain later (I like a bit of suspense ).

Right before the concert, me and Patrick noticed some mini-boys seating on the side of the stage with a chaperone, except they were wearing blue shirts and trousers… not the white robes, meaning they would not go on stage. There were 5 of them I believe. Their names are not mentioned on the program and they were not introduced, maybe they were not ready yet. They did attend the concert to see how it is to be done, though.

FIRST PART

The concert started with the usual record of one boy asking people to turn off their phones and all. It used to be Daniel’s voice but they changed it, presumably to Joseph Hill’s voice. Might be that since Daniel’s voice is breaking it is fitting that a new younger boy takes the role.

The boys entered the stage and made half a circle in the dark, for Ding dong Merrily on High, a classic Christmas song, still fantastic. Though I like a soft mysterious one better to start a concert.

The next piece was Sanctus. This is not a piece I really am eager to hear live, we have heard it a lot. But I enjoyed it actually, Luca’s high and long notes being very beautiful and well handled.

Lewis and Pietro did the first speech. It was the first speech for Pietro and he looked very pleased, very happy and smiling !

I was glad we got to hear Walking in the Air, with Luca doing the solo. Perfect and amazing. The boys did not kneel as they used to, and I realized they did never kneel during this concert, maybe they quit the habit (some mentioned it might be uncomfortable). I really like the intro of this song when sang live, I always find it softer and silkier than on the album.

Wexford Carol’s solo was Laurence Davey. For very secret classified reasons I will not mention, something like “I found a piece of paper lying on the floor and it happened to belong to Steven’s music stand with notes on the soloists”, (but let’s not talk about it ), I believe Morgan was supposed to do this solo, but since he wasn’t there he was replaced. Laurence did not give the impression of being a last minute soloist at all, he enjoyed himself and we enjoyed it as well. I like his simple soft way of doing things. Also, this piece is one of my favorite Christmas songs by Libera.

Gaudete started with the usual solo, careful, it was not Freddie Mushrafi’s solo, but Frederick Howarth’s ! It was his first solo ever and a good one. This song is a Christmas must-have as well, with the boys sometimes facing the center of the stage, and sometimes turning their back to the center of the stage. And then during the « gaudete » part they make half a circle and they face the audience for the last part, very spectacular.

Sing for Ever was really, really, really good. I mean it was smooth, more assertive than this summer, and I also believe some harmonies were added at some point for Daniel, Luca and Victor. Nathan and Joseph were fantastic. When the concert ended, it was the song I was humming… yep…

Daniel and Laurence D then made a speech, I am unsure but I think they talked about the future album coming in 2023, and they mentioned the previous Libera members composing songs, especially Josh and Raoul, which were there playing the instruments.

The Lighthouse also seemed more “stable” than last summer, but it might be that the melody is more and more familiar to me. I found Luca more subtile than powerful and I liked that. It seems obvious since he is doing the Young Chorister and is working on his album, but I shall say it : Luca is at his peak. I really like the end of this song, with Luca, Daniel, Nathan and (… who was the 4th one ? Morgan was this summer, right ?)… are singing front stage with elaborate melodies.

I loved Voca Me, though I like the old version better, but the vocalizes were perfect, almost "Thomas DL in Ireland" perfect ! Also Daniel sang like he was praying he could sing every second of his life on earth. Very moving.

Beati started with Nathan and Pietro (it was his first solo). This might be the less favorite of the new songs to me, though I have to say it sounds like Libera (mix of latine and English, vocalizes, nice beat). I feel something strange about this one : I bet I’m going to like the record better than the live performance, I find its rhythm is quite difficult and they might not nail it exactly on stage.

Nathan and Daniel said the first part was coming to and end, and they introduced the « lovely white robes” on which they should not spill anything. Of course, Daniel had a brown spot on his robe . They also demonstrated how the choir splits in 7 on Libera.

Libera was great, with Mitchell and Freddie M, and Luca helping at the end.

SECOND PART

The « bigs » entered the stage first, and they sang Conditor Alme Siderum, with a small solo from Johnny, who has a very soft warm voice (AND is this his first solo ever ? I do not remember his soloing as a treble). I would like them to do a full lenght version of it and record it, this is a nice piece and a great tribute to the bigs’ voices.

The music did not stop and transformed into Carol of the Bells, the other boys entered the stage. Small issue : who did the vocalizes ? I could not see who did the first one. Now, there is a very secret paper we shall not mention, with « Mush » mentioned as a soloist. And there are two boys named Mushrafi, Thomas missing though his name is on the program. Freddie M is mentioned twice as Freddie on some secret paper, so, who is « Mush » ? I say Thomas was meant to do this part, and someone replaced him. Lucy said she thought Laurence did the solo, and we do know a Laurence boy who already replaced someone for a solo… Do you still follow me ? Anyway, Freddie M or Laurence both seem possible. The second solo is fine : Cameron did it (his first real solo ? last year he was a duo on this same part). And the final part was Oskar (1rst solo for him).

Hal and Oscar J (different from Oskar, keep up ! ) did a speech. They talked about the Bigs and their song, and introduced Noel Nouvelet.

Noel Nouvelet is one of my favourite Christmas Libera songs, and I was glad to hear it again. I said before the concert Mitchell could do the solo, and I was right (mostly a feeling, the boy isn’t French as far as we know), BUT… some SUPER SECRET PAPER seems to indicate that Morgan was meant to sing it. Well, I absolutely ADORED Mitchell’s solo. Special mention to his French accent, better in my opinion than Victor’s ever was, and Mitchell might not speak French… The second part with the duet was sang by Ethan Hutchinson (first solo) (not to be confused with Ethan Barron, right ? ), and Laurence D. Very nicely handled.

Come My Way was unexpected, I did not thought Daniel could handle the solo. Last year at Christmas, rumor had it that his voice would break in 3 months… well, this has been a very long 3rd month indeed . You can hear his voice is changing, and I suspect he used to sing some parts as a treble and now he was singing a lower part. But so beautiful ! This boy really has something unique, and I have to say : he is one of the top 5 best Libera soloists ever. I can’t wait to be able to hear this Come My Way song again and again.

Ave Verum was the surprise, and the reason it was worth it spending 2 hours in the cold outside SJSS (also people around there were friendly). We heard the song during the rehearsal, some interpretation of Albinoni’s Adagio. With a mysterious soloist… and I still have goosebump when I think about it. Hearing this very powerful voice through the wooden doors almost felt more mystic and precious than hearing the song live during the concert. It was of course Freddie M, fantastic in the way Dominik was fantastic on Cum Dederit, Thomas DL with Ave Maria, Isaac on Danny Boy, and with something very dramatic. I can’t wait to hear the song again, and… yeah, I was so hypnotized by Freddie, and he smashed the choir, and so I can’t really remember what the rest of them were doing.

Smile was the next song, Victor nicely starting and then doing the low part with Mitchell leading the way. This piece really fits him, he is a great recruit this Mitchell. I feel like he could be really powerful, and he does not believe in it enough but, if he could relax he would be even more amazing. His nice timid voice already pleases me.

Lewis and Victor did a speech, I have no idea what they talked about. Do not thank me for this very precious useful information.

Ave Maria was a trio for Luca, Daniel and Laurence D. To me, it probably is the less interesting song of this concert. RP’s Ave Maria is fantastic, that is not the issue, but this trio does not work, there is no special formation on stage either. It just does not work for me, I regret the time when Merlin or Ben Bywater did it, and they did something personal and moving with it.

God Only Knows was a surprise to me, I thought I would not like it. I would not say I loved it, and I really need to hear it again (I should not wait too long ! ), but it was nice and I liked the way Luca, Daniel and Victor shared the lyrics like they were talking to each other.

Julian did a speech to say goodbye, and also, Merry Christmas.

The final song was I Saw Three Ships. Julian said they love to sing it because they get to say Christmas a lot, and “can you guess how many times” ? Well, I don’t know if he does, but it must be a lot, indeed. This is a nice song, but honestly, excuse-me, but I do not remember it really, I was just overwhelmed that the concert was already coming to an end !

They bowed and we stoop up, and Steven soon started the encore, which was…

Sing ! Still awesome, more and more precise in execution, special mention to Joseph H and Leon who could not stop dancing (me neither, guys, me neither… ).

I am now a 100% sure the covid crises did not damage the quality of the choir, nor the quality of the solos, and the soloists were numerous and talentuous. They all look more confident, and the newbies from last year are doing just fine, thank you very much . Also we spotted some serious soloists for the years to come. I am curious to see what the post-Daniel era will be like, he somehow is the “main Libera member”, leading both in a musical and "behaviour" way (leading when they change position on stage, smiling confidently to the youngers…). But Libera never disappointed us, and always has a new talent up their sleeves, Freddie demonstrated it in a shiny (dazzling ) way.

Edit : Does anyone has a signature on their program that looks like a "MW" ? I am puzzled...

[Celtic]

Thanks for the great review!

The concert started with the usual record of one boy asking people to turn off their phones and all. It used to be Daniel’s voice but they changed it, presumably to Joseph Hill’s voice. Might be that since Daniel’s voice is breaking it is fitting that a new younger boy takes the role.

I noticed that change and it is a definitely sign/acknowledgment that Libera know Daniel's voice isn't far from dropping. Time for a fresh set of lungs to come to the fore. Luckily I think Joseph Hill is great, so I'm fine with him being Daniel's replacement.

The boys entered the stage and made half a circle in the dark, for Ding dong Merrily on High, a classic Christmas song, still fantastic. Though I like a soft mysterious one better to start a concert.

I quite liked this louder start, although, it was a bit too loud at the off, before they adjusted the sound levels down a fraction.

The next piece was Sanctus. This is not a piece I really am eager to hear live, we have heard it a lot. But I enjoyed it actually, Luca’s high and long notes being very beautiful and well handled.

Lewis and Pietro did the first speech. It was the first speech for Pietro and he looked very pleased, very happy and smiling !

I was glad we got to hear Walking in the Air, with Luca doing the solo. Perfect and amazing. The boys did not kneel as they used to, and I realized they did never kneel during this concert, maybe they quit the habit (some mentioned it might be uncomfortable). I really like the intro of this song when sang live, I always find it softer and silkier than on the album.

Luca's Walking in the Air was lovely, a very enjoyable rendition from him. His voice is in good shape for his album recording.

Perhaps the lack of kneeling is due to the event-that-must-not-be-talked-about, that happened in last Xmas' concert.

Wexford Carol’s solo was Laurence Davey. For very secret classified reasons I will not mention, something like “I found a piece of paper lying on the floor and it happened to belong to Steven’s music stand with notes on the soloists”, (but let’s not talk about it ), I believe Morgan was supposed to do this solo, but since he wasn’t there he was replaced. Laurence did not give the impression of being a last minute soloist at all, he enjoyed himself and we enjoyed it as well. I like his simple soft way of doing things. Also, this piece is one of my favorite Christmas songs by Libera.

Odd given that Morgan himself was a stand-in for an absentee on the Friday. Guess it's the time of year for illness to circulate. I like Laurence Davey's voice, so I was more than fine with this replacement.

Gaudete started with the usual solo, careful, it was not Freddie Mushrafi’s solo, but Frederick Howarth’s ! It was his first solo ever and a good one. This song is a Christmas must-have as well, with the boys sometimes facing the center of the stage, and sometimes turning their back to the center of the stage. And then during the « gaudete » part they make half a circle and they face the audience for the last part, very spectacular.

I saw FM named as the soloist somewhere but I was a bit sceptical as I didn't remember it sounding like him. Thanks for clearing that up!

Sing for Ever was really, really, really good. I mean it was smooth, more assertive than this summer, and I also believe some harmonies were added at some point for Daniel, Luca and Victor. Nathan and Joseph were fantastic. When the concert ended, it was the song I was humming… yep…

Daniel and Laurence D then made a speech, I am unsure but I think they talked about the future album coming in 2023, and they mentioned the previous Libera members composing songs, especially Josh and Raoul, which were there playing the instruments.

It's a piece I really like, it has that kind of international choir competition feel. Uplifting and engaging.

The Lighthouse also seemed more “stable” than last summer, but it might be that the melody is more and more familiar to me. I found Luca more subtile than powerful and I liked that. It seems obvious since he is doing the Young Chorister and is working on his album, but I shall say it : Luca is at his peak. I really like the end of this song, with Luca, Daniel, Nathan and (… who was the 4th one ? Morgan was this summer, right ?)… are singing front stage with elaborate melodies.

I loved Voca Me, though I like the old version better, but the vocalizes were perfect, almost "Thomas DL in Ireland" perfect ! Also Daniel sang like he was praying he could sing every second of his life on earth. Very moving.

Wasn't a massive fan of Lighthouse in the summer, but it's growing on me.

Was it Luca on the vocalizes for Voca Me? I think so and they were perfect!

One of the signs of DW's voice change is the fact he simply cannot manage these now, and even in the summer there was a slight stumble on the first one in Brighton. The ability to sing those spontaneous high bits is one of the first things to go.

Beati started with Nathan and Pietro (it was his first solo). This might be the less favorite of the new songs to me, though I have to say it sounds like Libera (mix of latine and English, vocalizes, nice beat). I feel something strange about this one : I bet I’m going to like the record better than the live performance, I find its rhythm is quite difficult and they might not nail it exactly on stage.

See it's the other way round for me, I have liked Beati from the first time I heard it, and I still like it. It's not amazing, but I very much enjoy it.

Nathan and Daniel said the first part was coming to and end, and they introduced the « lovely white robes” on which they should not spill anything. Of course, Daniel had a brown spot on his robe . They also demonstrated how the choir splits in 7 on Libera.

Libera was great, with Mitchell and Freddie M, and Luca helping at the end.

I noticed those spots too!

SECOND PART

The « bigs » entered the stage first, and they sang Conditor Alme Siderum, with a small solo from Johnny, who has a very soft warm voice (AND is this his first solo ever ? I do not remember his soloing as a treble). I would like them to do a full lenght version of it and record it, this is a nice piece and a great tribute to the bigs’ voices.

The music did not stop and transformed into Carol of the Bells, the other boys entered the stage. Small issue : who did the vocalizes ? I could not see who did the first one. Now, there is a very secret paper we shall not mention, with « Mush » mentioned as a soloist. And there are two boys named Mushrafi, Thomas missing though his name is on the program. Freddie M is mentioned twice as Freddie on some secret paper, so, who is « Mush » ? I say Thomas was meant to do this part, and someone replaced him. Lucy said she thought Laurence did the solo, and we do know a Laurence boy who already replaced someone for a solo… Do you still follow me ? Anyway, Freddie M or Laurence both seem possible. The second solo is fine : Cameron did it (his first real solo ? last year he was a duo on this same part). And the final part was Oskar (1rst solo for him).

I love that intro with Conditor Alme Siderum. The Carol of the Bells final solo in the 2020 pandemic concerts was DC, whose loss to Libera I still lament, more so after hearing his voice is still perfect on Friday. Que sera sera...

Hal and Oscar J (different from Oskar, keep up ! ) did a speech. They talked about the Bigs and their song, and introduced Noel Nouvelet.

Noel Nouvelet is one of my favourite Christmas Libera songs, and I was glad to hear it again. I said before the concert Mitchell could do the solo, and I was right (mostly a feeling, the boy isn’t French as far as we know), BUT… some SUPER SECRET PAPER seems to indicate that Morgan was meant to sing it. Well, I absolutely ADORED Mitchell’s solo. Special mention to his French accent, better in my opinion than Victor’s ever was, and Mitchell might not speak French… The second part with the duet was sang by Ethan Hutchinson (first solo) (not to be confused with Ethan Barron, right ? ), and Laurence D. Very nicely handled.

I also love Noel Nouvelet having heard it sung properly several times by French choristers, in France! But Mitchell did a very good job and I really enjoyed it.

Come My Way was unexpected, I did not thought Daniel could handle the solo. Last year at Christmas, rumor had it that his voice would break in 3 months… well, this has been a very long 3rd month indeed . You can hear his voice is changing, and I suspect he used to sing some parts as a treble and now he was singing a lower part. But so beautiful ! This boy really has something unique, and I have to say : he is one of the top 5 best Libera soloists ever. I can’t wait to be able to hear this Come My Way song again and again.

So, I totally expected this. There were many naysayers over the last few months saying that Daniel White's voice wouldn't make it to Christmas. However, I know my trebles. Brighton and Chichester to SJSS was only four months. DW sang the vocalises for Voca Me at those, which as I mentioned above, you don't do if your voice is about to break. Finally, I heard him in October and it was clear to me he could still manage Come My Way/If at that point easily. But I'll accept at this point the chance of him still managing that in 6 months time is very low.

I was more than delighted that I got to hear him again. He remains my favourite Libera soloist ever.

Ave Verum was the surprise, and the reason it was worth it spending 2 hours in the cold outside SJSS (also people around there were friendly). We heard the song during the rehearsal, some interpretation of Albinoni’s Adagio. With a mysterious soloist… and I still have goosebump when I think about it. Hearing this very powerful voice through the wooden doors almost felt more mystic and precious than hearing the song live during the concert. It was of course Freddie M, fantastic in the way Dominik was fantastic on Cum Dederit, Thomas DL with Ave Maria, Isaac on Danny Boy, and with something very dramatic. I can’t wait to hear the song again, and… yeah, I was so hypnotized by Freddie, and he smashed the choir, and so I can’t really remember what the rest of them were doing.

Not having heard this during the rehearsal this was a complete surprise and it just blew me away. I genuinely did have tears in my eyes as he was singing, his voice seemed to cut right through to my heart. When the song ended I was applauding and the guy next to me made some comment about how good it was. Normally I am strictly silent during concerts, I won't engage in conversation even during applause, but this comment by my neighbour just opened a floodgate of emotion and I said out loud "stunning, absolutely stunning" loud enough that to my shame the person in front of me turned around. Sorry I was just overcome by the beauty of the singing...

Smile was the next song, Victor nicely starting and then doing the low part with Mitchell leading the way. This piece really fits him, he is a great recruit this Mitchell. I feel like he could be really powerful, and he does not believe in it enough but, if he could relax he would be even more amazing. His nice timid voice already pleases me.

Lewis and Victor did a speech, I have no idea what they talked about. Do not thank me for this very precious useful information.

Smile is a lovely song and the combination of Mitchell and Victor is a winning one, I wonder how long Victor will manage it.

Ave Maria was a trio for Luca, Daniel and Laurence D. To me, it probably is the less interesting song of this concert. RP’s Ave Maria is fantastic, that is not the issue, but this trio does not work, there is no special formation on stage either. It just does not work for me, I regret the time when Merlin or Ben Bywater did it, and they did something personal and moving with it.

God Only Knows was a surprise to me, I thought I would not like it. I would not say I loved it, and I really need to hear it again (I should not wait too long ! ), but it was nice and I liked the way Luca, Daniel and Victor shared the lyrics like they were talking to each other.

I also didn't know how I would find this song, having seen spoilers to it's inclusion earlier. But I really liked it!

Julian did a speech to say goodbye, and also, Merry Christmas.

The final song was I Saw Three Ships. Julian said they love to sing it because they get to say Christmas a lot, and “can you guess how many times” ? Well, I don’t know if he does, but it must be a lot, indeed. This is a nice song, but honestly, excuse-me, but I do not remember it really, I was just overwhelmed that the concert was already coming to an end !

They bowed and we stoop up, and Steven soon started the encore, which was…

Sing ! Still awesome, more and more precise in execution, special mention to Joseph H and Leon who could not stop dancing (me neither, guys, me neither… ).

I am now a 100% sure the covid crises did not damage the quality of the choir, nor the quality of the solos, and the soloists were numerous and talentuous. They all look more confident, and the newbies from last year are doing just fine, thank you very much . Also we spotted some serious soloists for the years to come. I am curious to see what the post-Daniel era will be like, he somehow is the “main Libera member”, leading both in a musical and "behaviour" way (leading when they change position on stage, smiling confidently to the youngers…). But Libera never disappointed us, and always has a new talent up their sleeves, Freddie demonstrated it in a shiny (dazzling ) way.

Edit : Does anyone has a signature on their program that looks like a "MW" ? I am puzzled...

Julian's final speech was very cute.

I Saw Three Ships was my favourite in Brighton when it was first sung, but yes I have to say it wasn't so memorable this time. Sing For Our World is a lovely and upbeat song to finish on.

Given that it is now likely that Daniel will be in the back by the next concert, it will be very interesting to see how the choir dynamic changes. In a choir I used to follow they had an amazing treble who not only sung solos excellently, but led the others in a similar way to Daniel. When his voice dropped the choir suffered doubly. However, I'm sure Libera will find a way. DW with his amazing voice and ridiculous charisma would be hard to replace anywhere...

Presumably MW is Morgan, they would have signed them at an earlier rehearsal and then presumably illness ruled him out at the last minute.

[Luckdragon]

Edit : Does anyone has a signature on their program that looks like a "MW" ? I am puzzled...

I presume Morgan W attended the program signing party before being stricken.

► Show Spoiler

FjDJCOvXkAIxLEW.jpg (430.25 KiB) Viewed 11258 times

FjDJCOvXkAIxLEW.jpg (430.25 KiB) Viewed 11258 times

Excellent review, as usual. It's very much appreciated.

[theriverflowson]

Thanks for the review to Padmachou and everyone else, some reading matter for the upcoming weekend to reminisce

Gaudete started with the usual solo, careful, it was not Freddie Mushrafi’s solo, but Frederick Howarth’s ! It was his first solo ever and a good one. This song is a Christmas must-have as well, with the boys sometimes facing the center of the stage, and sometimes turning their back to the center of the stage. And then during the « gaudete » part they make half a circle and they face the audience for the last part, very spectacular.

Thanks for the clarification - I wasn't sure anymore if it was Frederick Howarth or Ethan Hutchinson

Edit : Does anyone has a signature on their program that looks like a "MW" ? I am puzzled...

Yes, it appears Morgan signed the programmes

► Show Spoiler

20221209_090439.jpg (592.8 KiB) Viewed 11205 times

20221209_090439.jpg (592.8 KiB) Viewed 11205 times

[Yorkie]

Hi everyone. Here comes my full extensive review. I wrote it in french first, as Yorkie suggested, and I have to admit it was quicker to write in French first, but now I have to translate it. Sorry for the mistakes to come. The power blacked out while I wrote this so there was no online dictionary support

A wonderful review, thank you for taking the time to write it for us. Your translation is great by the way. You always amaze me with your ability to identify the boys and remember who sang the parts

[Padmachou]

A wonderful review, thank you for taking the time to write it for us. Your translation is great by the way. You always amaze me with your ability to identify the boys and remember who sang the parts

Yeah and I had no secret paper to help me with that

[Surpinto]

Hi everyone. Here comes my full extensive review. I wrote it in french first, as Yorkie suggested, and I have to admit it was quicker to write in French first, but now I have to translate it. Sorry for the mistakes to come. The power blacked out while I wrote this so there was no online dictionary support

A wonderful review, thank you for taking the time to write it for us. Your translation is great by the way. You always amaze me with your ability to identify the boys and remember who sang the parts

Second! An excellent and detailed review, and a joy to read.

[filiarheni]

It's impossible for me to write a full review this time, so I limit myself to commenting with some reviewing remarks.

I was glad we got to hear Walking in the Air, with Luca doing the solo. Perfect and amazing. [...]. I really like the intro of this song when sang live, I always find it softer and silkier than on the album.

Walking in the air was the first true highlight of the concert for me.

Yes, mine as well! It enchanted me and certainly was one of the best songs of the concert. I have never heard it as good as that night from Luca and it may be my favourite Luca solo so far. He had a fascinating sweet tone in his voice, light, fine, which suited the piece 100 %. I experienced it like a dream journey, to which the choral harmonies contributed very much as well. This song was an example of a fully rounded performance.
Luca's voice has very well developed, his expression is more and more improving, there's emotion now coming across in the tone, his timbre is pleasant, and he develops his skills to alter his voice depending on the song.

However, what he, hands down, gorgeously masters is his breath! Walking in the Air on a superficial glance seems an easy song to sing, but it's not, due to all those very long notes. Luca held them all without showing any sign of effort. His voice flew gently, the choir followed in a corresponding way, and the result for me was totally getting lost in my relax.

Laurence in Wexford Carol sang with such a gentle, tender voice, giving his own flavour to this beloved song.

Although I missed Morgan, as I had looked forward to a solo from him, Laurence being his replacement in this song was well chosen. He has a super-clear voice with a calm strength, which I very much enjoy when he sings as well as, like I said in earlier reviews, when he speaks.

Sing for Ever was really, really, really good. [...]Nathan and Joseph were fantastic.

While Nathan during the summer concerts gave me the feeling of not entirely being at home in the melody part in contrast to singing high vocalises, this impression has now changed. His voice has made a step forward since then and I noticed a distinct core in it this time, which had not been there before. This added character to his voice and attracted my attention.

The Lighthouse [...] I really like the end of this song, with Luca, Daniel, Nathan and (… who was the 4th one ? Morgan was this summer, right ?)… are singing front stage with elaborate melodies.

Yeah, me too, there's that quartet / double duet with the unique idea to place two and two in a crossed way. Was Victor the fourth soloist? I think I remember that three of them were the same as in the summer concerts, while Morgan was missing this time.

I loved Voca Me, though I like the old version better, but the vocalizes were perfect, almost "Thomas DL in Ireland" perfect ! Also Daniel sang like he was praying he could sing every second of his life on earth. Very moving.

Voca Me was brilliant! They covered the whole range from the most gently sung "Lacrymosa" part ending with the softest "voca me" you can imagine - strikingly soft - to total loudness at the end. My seat was in the second row, so I received the power of the song with full vehemence. Absolutely loved that!

Was it Luca on the vocalizes for Voca Me? I think so and they were perfect!

Yes, it was him and he sang right upon us. Throughout the concert, it was amazing to get the voices from so close this time, their natural voices.

See it's the other way round for me, I have liked Beati from the first time I heard it, and I still like it. It's not amazing, but I very much enjoy it.

Me too. It's an unusual song, which forces you into an active listen.

The music did not stop and transformed into Carol of the Bells, the other boys entered the stage.

Carol of the Bells was superb! Perhaps it's just me or my seat so close to the stage, but it seemed like the drive of the song had an especially strong interplay with the choir today; so the boys took up the energy which lies in the composition anyway, which increased the energy of the song, which again increased the boys energy ... a spiral until the quiet solo ending after the choral storm.

The Carol of the Bells final solo in the 2020 pandemic concerts was DC, whose loss to Libera I still lament, more so after hearing his voice is still perfect on Friday.

Same here.

Noel Nouvelet is one of my favourite Christmas Libera songs, and I was glad to hear it again. [...] The second part with the duet was sang by Ethan Hutchinson (first solo) (not to be confused with Ethan Barron, right ? ), and Laurence D. Very nicely handled.

I like Noël nouvelet a lot, because it has such a versatile arrangement and on Sunday I especially felt that. There's always something going on in that song. I loved the duet, above all because it had another "first" of a newbie, Ethan. This song is so uplifting and always a pleasure!

(Come My Way) However, I know my trebles.

Brighton and Chichester to SJSS was only four months. DW sang the vocalises for Voca Me at those, which as I mentioned above, you don't do if your voice is about to break.

You confuse this with I am the Day. Luca had sung Voca Me's vocalises. But your point is clear and I know what you mean.

Smile was the next song, Victor nicely starting and then doing the low part with Mitchell leading the way. This piece really fits him, he is a great recruit this Mitchell. I feel like he could be really powerful, and he does not believe in it enough but, if he could relax he would be even more amazing. His nice timid voice already pleases me.

In Chichester he was relaxed and confident with a look like being lost in reverie. I'm not exactly sure how it felt to him this time. After Victor handed the solo over to Mitchell in that amazing way in summer, it was somehow strange to see him doing it once more. Perhaps a voice change was suspected to show up earlier, but as long as it doesn't really happen, we may find ourselves in a time warp.

Ave Maria was a trio for Luca, Daniel and Laurence D. To me, it probably is the less interesting song of this concert. RP’s Ave Maria is fantastic, that is not the issue, but this trio does not work, there is no special formation on stage either. It just does not work for me, I regret the time when Merlin or Ben Bywater did it, and they did something personal and moving with it.

That was my criticism in my Brighton/Chichester review: the decision to have this tender melody sung by no less than three boys in unison, which removes its tenderness. Although they were great, perfectly in pitch with each other in the first part, something highly admirable.

God Only Knows was a surprise to me, I thought I would not like it. I would not say I loved it, and I really need to hear it again (I should not wait too long ! ), but it was nice and I liked the way Luca, Daniel and Victor shared the lyrics like they were talking to each other.

The Libera arrangement keeps extremely true to the original, taking over melodic and rhythmic elements of the instrumental and the choir singing harmony parts originally played by the instruments. I was familiar with the song long before and a choral version is inherent to the Beach Boys' version, very obvious when we have a look at the echoes in the final part of the song. The middle section differs, but that pretty much is it.
I liked Libera's singing and enjoyed the Luca/Daniel/Victor trio, but the song went over quite fast and left me a bit baffled. Something I cannot grasp lacked the song, and so it turned out less spectacular than what I had hoped for and expected.

I Saw Three Ships. [...] This is a nice song, but honestly, excuse-me, but I do not remember it really [...]
This happened to me with Gaudete this time. I can't really it ... only a few flashes come to my mind.

OMG, never remind me of that! At some point I had to take my eyes off one of them or I would have burst into a laughing fit. That movement, which I've never seen before, looked so-so funny.

Given that it is now likely that Daniel will be in the back by the next concert, it will be very interesting to see how the choir dynamic changes. In a choir I used to follow they had an amazing treble who not only sung solos excellently, but led the others in a similar way to Daniel. When his voice dropped the choir suffered doubly. However, I'm sure Libera will find a way. DW with his amazing voice and ridiculous charisma would be hard to replace anywhere...

This is something I'm not afraid of at all. There was a time before Daniel and there will be a time after him. As far as I see it, there has never been a drop in Libera's quality, as their "offspring" is excellently trained for their increasing tasks. And while fabulous boys leave the main stage, other fabulous ones will follow. It keeps our curiousity and interest alive and I love that. Looking forward to everyone to come.

The concert was marvellous. I set my focus on the choir this time and intensely enjoyed that. I heard so many harmony voices unusually distinctly this time, there, so close to them. Often it was like listening to the song from its inside, if that makes sense.

And Moose in his nice white robe was most handsome plus he had not spilled any drinks on it.

[theriverflowson]

The concert started with the usual record of one boy asking people to turn off their phones and all. It used to be Daniel’s voice but they changed it, presumably to Joseph Hill’s voice. Might be that since Daniel’s voice is breaking it is fitting that a new younger boy takes the role.

I don't know, the voice from the record brought back reeeally bad memories from my first-ever concert in Ely this year, when Oscar J. said goodbye to us - but not sure about this. It was easier to identify Daniel's voice, we might need to listen to the record carefully a few times more at future concerts

Lewis and Victor did a speech, I have no idea what they talked about. Do not thank me for this very precious useful information.

We learned that Victor is even better in singing the low notes of Smile and that Moose is still the Executive Producer (and apperently very fertile). They mentioned the two singles to be released this December.

[Luckdragon]

Pre-concert announcement mystery solved. It's Oscar J!

2022-12-23_14-29-57.jpg (70.48 KiB) Viewed 10347 times

2022-12-23_14-29-57.jpg (70.48 KiB) Viewed 10347 times

[Celtic]

OMG, I just found a photo of me at the SJSS concert listening to Freddie sing Ave Verum! So cool.

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5qzm0f.jpg (47.77 KiB) Viewed 9853 times