Production: Impressive sound quality and I was pleasantly surprised by the multiple camera angles. The orchestra did a wonderful job; strong sound without being overpowering, yet perfectly gentle where required.
Set list: Nice variety of songs, safe to say there's a little something for everyone! There's not a great deal of variety available when it comes to the Christmas concert, so it's amazing they managed to keep it so fresh whilst keeping the fan favorites in.
Choir performance: The irreplicable Libera sound persists, wow! Despite limited opportunities to practice, they complement each other perfectly, as if one. I did feel some of the treble solos were a tad shaky, but not bad by any means (I think I'm just spoilt by the talent from previous years!). There's always that background worry that the choir will fall from grace, but alas it remains of the highest quality. The static staging didn't bother me (I find their moving during pieces a tad cheesy usually
). The speeches were well spoken, and came across more natural than usual.New songs:
- 'Let me make songs for the people' - Absolutely loved this, hits every aspect I'd look for in a perfect Libera arrangement... a new favorite for sure. You can really hear the older boys in this track, adding so much depth; something I wish I could hear more often from Libera. The backing (orchestra) is particularly top notch in this piece too.
- 'If' - Wonderfully sung and perfectly pleasant to listen to... just didn't grab me! Quite repetitive, and has few layers to it.
- 'Sing for our world' - Fantastic surprise, another new favorite. I loved the vibrancy of the piece; punchy and upbeat. I felt it adhered to the Libera style nicely despite being quite different. Unlike 'If', this arrangement has layers aplenty! I'd definitely welcome more like this, and also wonder if such songs would have a wider (audience) appeal. I'm sure they're more enjoyable for the boys too! We've seen other choirs (cough WSK) experiment with their style quite drastically away from their roots, with arguable results. Libera has excelled here.
Final thoughts: I suppose the current situation gave us a silver lining in the form of this "live" concert, allowing many people to "attend" that otherwise couldn't have (though I understand some here are sad they couldn't be there in person). Hopefully we may even have a new video recording after 5 long years! I hope this was a financial success for Libera, as it may well open a lot of doors for future content. Very happy.
I hope they will continue with the sale and sell as many tickets as possible!
If you are still able to view the video you can clearly see that at 13:58 Dominik, Neo, Nathaniel, Ben, and (I think) Ludwik are all singing the main part. We must remember of course that all audio goes through a mixing board and Luca’s microphone is turned up much higher than the rest of the boys to create this effect. Obviously he does sing certain parts completely by himself but not everything.
