Libera to tour USA - Summer 2017

[Jay_S]

Hi Everyone!

My name is Nathan, and I just came back from the concert at Christ Cathedral.

Hi Nathan. Thanks for sharing your experience at the concert! You expressed yourself really well! My level of excitement and anticipation of seeing Libera for the first time in St Louis has just gone up, thanks to you

[Surpinto]

Hi Everyone!

My name is Nathan, and I just came back from the concert at Christ Cathedral.

Hi Nathan and welcome to Libera Dreams! Thank you so much for your review and I certainly hope that this concert review won't be your last post here at Libera Dreams. You have seen them in concert 4 times? Wow! Given your geographic location that is not a simple fete. Please do not just post this review and disappear; instead, I am sure we would love to know about which concerts you have attended and how you discovered the group. You can post about it over at the Introduce Yourself sub-forum.

I did make Peter (I believe that's his name) perk up quite a bit when I told him I loved the sunglasses he was wearing during a video he made earlier today.

Hilarious!

Just got back from the concert. It was great and I am most impressed with Gabe and Rocco's performance. Gabe improved a lot since last time I heard him live two years ago, where he sang Always With You. He can manage his voice so well now and it's so smooth and beautiful. Rocco sang so skillfully and I loved it.

I also sat behind Peter's grandparents who are from the US and drove here. They are really proud of Peter and told me some personal stories (which I will not disclose). But when Peter said on stage that he was half American in his speech, his grandparents are like the happiest grandparents in the world.

Glad you enjoyed the concert as well. What a cool tidbit! That is fantastic that they got to be proud of their grandson and enjoy a terrific performance. That makes me smile.

Hi Everyone!

My name is Nathan, and I just came back from the concert at Christ Cathedral.

Hi Nathan. Thanks for sharing your experience at the concert! You expressed yourself really well! My level of excitement and anticipation of seeing Libera for the first time in St Louis has just gone up, thanks to you

Me too!! My anticipation is increasing by the day.

[Surpinto]

Here are four videos made by Nick who helps to run the Libera of the United States fundraising affiliate.

Peter promoting Libera. This one came with the following with the following commentary :

He offered to take them off but I insisted he'd look more LA with them on. Now he's coming up to me every 10 minutes to see who's ahead on Likes and Retweets. You all want to give him a thrill? You know what to do.

So everyone go to the Tweet where this was posted and like and retweet

https://twitter.com/enjaysea/status/891052106668322816

Leo promoting Libera:


Tadgh promoting Libera:


Oliver promoting Libera:

[Surpinto]

Also, here are photos posted on the Christ Cathedral Music Facebook page:

[john45]

The quality of the recent reviews of the “Hope” CD and the Ely concert makes me somewhat reluctant to offer my usual brief scribbles but knowing how eager the Libera faithful are for any news of their heroes, here goes.

First the venue. Held in the Arboretum, which is an attractive large hall separate from the Cathedral itself with a capacity of over 1000. I arrived just before 7.00 to see a crowd of about 30 lining up by the front door. The doors opened and the line began to move. I waited to join the end of the line – and waited and waited and waited. The line which had seemed so short, extended around the side of the Arboretum for the full length of the building and more. I then discovered that there was a separate line and entrance for premium ticket holders!

The stage/altar was about 4 steps up offering a good view of the performers. The orchestra was stage right and included local musicians as well as the familiar Eimear McGeown and Jon Ormston from Libera with Sean Groombridge (who organised the 2011 Canada Tour) on piano.
Libera members and set list are recorded elsewhere and need not be repeated.

San Damiano and Sanctus were performed in the usual way.

Camden did the first part of the “I’m Dreaming of Home” solo as usual, but the longer second part was performed, and done beautifully, by Taichi. You could see the relief on his face when he reached those difficult highest notes so perfectly.

As expected an excellent performance of “From a Distance” by Merlin followed by an equally excellent performance of “Angele Dei” by Rocco whose treble voice is maturing so beautifully.

New choreography for “Orinoco Flow” and “Sacris Solemnis” but otherwise no changes.

Wonderful performance of “Wonderful World” by Gabe. His voice has developed great strength and richness. This was one of the audience favorites.

“Libera” was followed by an extended interval during which there was opportunity to purchase merchandise which included CDS, two different tote bags, hoodies and umbrellas. Also an opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones which is one of the pleasures of a Libera Concert. Another is to see and hear the reactions of first time concert-goers and those who are completely new to Libera: “they sound even better live”, “the best choir I have ever heard”, “How can they produce such a beautiful sound?”, “I never expected such wonderful music” , “so moving’, “the harmonies are unbelievable”.

The second half opened with “Dies Irae” and segued into “Joyful Joyful” at which point a group of local choristers dressed in royal blue robes approached from each side and formed two lines in front of Robert and joined the singing.. They were about twenty in number with the majority being girls. I’m not usually in favour of mixed choirs but it was a great performance and they blended in very well. Obviously much appreciated by the audience which included their families.

Lovely performance of “Angel” by Camden who always gives of his best.

For “Salva Me” Taichi climbed up some stairs to the organ “loft” above the stage where he was bathed in a purple light to deliver his familiar “Salvas” . Very nicely done.

“Amazing Grace” not my favorite song but the performance could not be faulted especially Rocco who sang the solo verse with such expression. As expected, the American audience showed much appreciation for one of their favorite hymns.

“How Great Thou Art” outstanding performance by Alex Gula and the first to earn vocal appreciation (yelps, bravos etc) as well as applause from the audience.

Alex immediately followed with another outstanding performance of “Wayfaring Stranger” with the usual staging. Sam W was a hard act to follow after his performance of these two pieces in Washington (on the DVD) but Alex G is certainly equal to the task.

Lovely, lovely performance of “Smile” by Gabe and Alessandro. Drew the longest applause and loudest shouts of appreciation from the audience. I don’t really understand why Robert exhorts the boys to smile for this song which, for me, is a sad song.

Lastly, especially for Yorkie, came Exultate led by Merlin.

The prolonged standing ovation was only interrupted by the opening bars of the encore “America the Beautiful”. Wonderfully rousing performance which I’m sure went straight to the hearts of the American audience. A second standing ovation with more vocal appreciation ended this superb opening concert.

I have not mentioned the speeches but they went very well and even the old jokes (Harry Potter at Kings Cross) drew laughter. There were only four participants in the foreign language speech Alex G, Tadgh, Mattheus and Taichi. Peter, who introduced them, revealed that he was “half-American” which produced laughter and warm applause.

If tonight’s performance and attendance is matched at the next four venues this will probably be the most successful US tour ever.

[fan_de_LoK]

A few adds to the previous beautiful reviews:

Sanctus
Long harmonies by Merlin and Taichi

Sacris Solemnis
The high parts by a trio composed by Adam, Leo and Taichi

Libera
English words sung by Alex G and Rocco

Smile
Solo by Gabriel with Allesandro next to him, singing lower parts. At the front center of the stage stood Romeo, holding a recorder (a big flute) and he played a few notes from it twice during the song.
A boy playing an instrument during a song is quite rare but it's not exactly a premiere. Matthew Jansen played the tubular bell at the start and the end of 'Angel' at its premiere in Osaka 2015. And if I'm correct a couple of years ago it occured that Josh played the piano for one song while he was dressed with the white robe, but I don't remember exactly when and where.
Having the little Romeo at the recorder brought a touch of cuteness to the song

America the Beautiful (encore)
With colours of red on the organ pipes, blue on the frot of the organ balcony and white on the boys's robes.

[john45]

Thanks Patrick.
How could I have forgotten to mention Romeo and his recorder?
Probably the cutest moment in the whole show!

[kinda_k00l]

Believe it or not, I literally had goosebumps just by reading john45's & Nathan's reviews. Thank you guys so so much (I'm smiling as broadly as possible over here enjoying every word).
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Reading Nathan's review, I'm just so glad that the boys did super well, and gained many new fans as well as donations. They totally deserve it!

Libera did do a meet an greet. The poor boys were all so very exhausted. I believe California is about 9 hours behind their local time. I'm just guessing though, I'm too tired to look it up! Anyways, the boys were very delightful to chat with. Well, the teenagers were. A lot of the younger ones were too focused on staying awake. Lol!

This is exactly what's been on my mind for a while. They must be very tired to do a concert for a few hours and then hold a M&G for a few more.

I'm not very gifted with words

After reading your great review I was like, are you serious??
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It's also a joy for me to see that Rocco & Taichi had many solos in the concert, according to john45's wonderful review. Since I'm a new fan and don't have much opportunity to go to their recent live concerts, I can't know about such information (has been a fan of cute little Taichi after watching Libera in Korean 2016, back then I thought "this guy will do a lot of Libera's high notes, I'm sure").

“How Great Thou Art” outstanding performance by Alex Gula and the first to earn vocal appreciation (yelps, bravos etc) as well as applause from the audience.

Alex immediately followed with another outstanding performance of “Wayfaring Stranger” with the usual staging. Sam W was a hard act to follow after his performance of these two pieces in Washington (on the DVD) but Alex G is certainly equal to the task.

I agree that Sam W's versions of this 2 songs are hard to top, seems like Alex G totally has what it takes, yay!!
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At the front center of the stage stood Romeo, holding a recorder (a big flute) and he played a few notes from it twice during the song.

I'm speechless *in a good way*
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All the little things mentioned above, but the parts that I personally like most are the ones about the reaction of the first comers. I can easily be put in a good mood just by seeing others' positive reactions to the things I love. Hearing people say such can't-be-more-wonderful thing about Libera's singing is certainly one of them!! Thanks again for all these lovely reviews.

[maartendas]

Lovely performance of “Angel” by Camden who always gives of his best.

[...]

“How Great Thou Art” outstanding performance by Alex Gula and the first to earn vocal appreciation (yelps, bravos etc) as well as applause from the audience.

Alex immediately followed with another outstanding performance of “Wayfaring Stranger” with the usual staging. Sam W was a hard act to follow after his performance of these two pieces in Washington (on the DVD) but Alex G is certainly equal to the task.

Lovely, lovely performance of “Smile” by Gabe and Alessandro. Drew the longest applause and shouts of appreciation from the audience.

Thanks for your scribbles John! It sounds like a wonderful concert.

Great to read your compliments for Camden. I agree, he is a very strong singer and performer.

How nice that Alex G sang How Great Thou Art and Wayfaring. Two of my absolute favourite songs and I must say I have changed my opinion recently about his solo in Wayfaring on 'Hope'. There is a depth of emotion and tension in there which I didn't catch the first times. It's great that he is turning into such a good soloist. I remember from Vallendar he was very proud to tell me that he had gone to Washington for the DVD recording and now he is back in the States doing so well.

And who would've thought Smile would turn out to be such a success? This is one thing about Libera which keeps coming back: they are somehow always able to surprise us again.

Enjoy the rest of the tour!

[Yorkie]

Thanks Nathan, John and Patrick it sounds like a great concert that created lots of new fans. Maybe inspired to include a local choir as that is guaranteed to pull in lots of parents and grandparents!

[Surpinto]

Thank you for this detailed review, John; it can hardly be referred to as "brief scribbles" and that is for sure. The set list and the performances you describe sound excellent.

So Rocco is becoming quite the soloist? We have all expressed an interest to hear more from him ever since his solo on "Salve Regina" and I am absolutely eager to hear "Amazing Grace", and excellent piece all by itself, and as a contrast to Ciaran's excellent performance in Washington on the "Libera in America" live album.

At the front center of the stage stood Romeo, holding a recorder (a big flute) and he played a few notes from it twice during the song.
A boy playing an instrument during a song is quite rare but it's not exactly a premiere. Matthew Jansen played the tubular bell at the start and the end of 'Angel' at its premiere in Osaka 2015.

Yes but if I remember correctly Matthew Jansen he only had to do something very basic, right? And only at the beginning? Maybe just one note? Having Romeo play a few notes on a recorder at several points is definitely a departure for them! There are several choirs I am aware of who have tried this sort shtick each with varying success. The first that come to mind are The Vienna Boys Choir who do this as at many of their concerts (here is a quick example that I found, but there are many others) and the American Boy Choir who only does it for the percussion portion of their signature song "Adiemus".

And if I'm correct a couple of years ago it occured that Josh played the piano for one song while he was dressed with the white robe, but I don't remember exactly when and where

I may be remembering incorrectly but I believe this was in Washington for "Libera in America" when he walked away from the piano, put on the white robe, and joined the back row for "Be Still My Soul".

[andmar]

Thank you Nathan, John and Patrick for your reviews! Reading them made me feel like almost being there (including goosebumps), even though I'm over 10000 km away from California . Thank you Surpinto for the photos and videos.

I'm so glad to hear that Alex G. sings a solo in How Great Thou Art. Hopefully we will be able to hear him sing hymn in December in London too.
Then, it looks like Gregor's treble career came to an end too. Good, that we have his outstanding performance in Three Ravens on the Hope CD.
Romeo with a recorder and having sung a short solo already (December 2016)! I'm sure the boy has a brilliant career in Libera ahead of him.

[tom413]

And if I'm correct a couple of years ago it occured that Josh played the piano for one song while he was dressed with the white robe, but I don't remember exactly when and where.

You are correct. You are thinking of Ave Verum in the Channel islands tour of 2012.

[tom413]

Thank you Nathan! Reading first time reviews is one of my favorite things to do in this forum!
Hopefully we'll get another first time reviewer to give her thoughts after the Westlake concert.

The coverage provided by those who attended was very good and I really have nothing useful to add apart from looking forward to hearing them again tomorrow!

[JimmyRiddle]

I would also like to add my appreciation. Your thoughts and post-concert reviews are a pleasure and joy to read, and provides a great impression of how the night unfolded. It’s great to hear they have got their tour off to a highly successful start, and strategically selected some well known songs to win the seal of approval from their host country.

The second half opened with “Dies Irae” and segued into “Joyful Joyful” at which point a group of local choristers dressed in royal blue robes approached from each side and formed two lines in front of Robert and joined the singing.. They were about twenty in number with the majority being girls. I’m not usually in favour of mixed choirs but it was a great performance and they blended in very well. Obviously much appreciated by the audience which included their families.

I thought it was a nice touch to include a local choir like this. I'm sure it was a great experience for them to sing with Libera. A proud mother managed to capture the excitement at the following Meet & Greet.

A few videos of Libera’s participation in the summer choir camp mass during the morning