Glad you enjoyed the concert. In future, be sure to check if there is an already active thread discussing the topic. In this case everyone has been posting their reviews at this thread: http://www.forum.libera-dreams.com/view ... 36&t=3334
The reviews are on the last pages. After reading all of those you should add on to what has already been mentioned.
Padmachou wrote: ↑<span title="Sat Jun 06, 2020 8:40 pm">4 years ago</span>
Little notes : Neo's hair is beautiful, Daniel has Harry Potter lego, the miniboys are CUTE but I am lost, between the new-mini-boys and the previous-mini-boys ! The images of them playing were so funny, Matthias playing in the trees Well done to Jack's cat on passing the Jenga challenge ! Why is Hal running in a box ??? Joseph's sister is really cute (and so is her big brother).
Also interesting to see that Nathaniel is a Beano fan. Might explain his sense of humour but I expect he gained his literary skills elsewhere. The comic was banned in my 1950’s childhood home and had to be smuggled in and hidden under the mattress.
Padmachou wrote: ↑<span title="Sat Jun 06, 2020 9:23 pm">4 years ago</span>
Here is the list !
That is 48 names ! I was surprised they did not give the name of all boys and musicians, especially since the names of the 8 newbies are absolutely unknown.
Hal Avery
Nathaniel Bates-Fisher
Luke Batteson Dialpiaz
Cameron Birmingham ( ?)
Nathaniel Brown ( ?)
Luca Brugnoli
Ben Bywater
Daniel Catalogna ( ?)
Dominik Clarke
Samuel-Francis Collins
Liam Connery ( ? goodbye waving)
Joseph Cranitch ( not sure ? his hair looks darker than usual ?)
Laurence Davey
Frederick Day ( ?)
Tadhg Fitzgerald
John Gardner
Alex Gula
Felipe Jackson
Matthew Jansen (only on Total Praise ?)
Ludwik Kowalczyk ( ?)
Joshua Madine
Matthew Madine
Alessandro McKinnon-Botti
Alexandre Menuet
Alex Montoro
Mathias Montoro
Frederik Mushrafi
Neo Parson
Nathan Slater
Koji Shinokubo
Taichi Shinokubo
Jack Spicha
Camden Stewart
Laurence Taylor
Calam Virk Tamana
Oliver Watt-Rodriguez
Daniel White
Sam Wiggin
Victor Wiggin
Morgan Wiltshire ( ?)
8 newbies
The musicians are:
Strings - Project Instrumental
Flute - Eimear McGeown
I've yet to work out who are the pianists/keyboardists...
Nathaniel Brawn is definitely featured in the video. I know he helped play the piano/keyboards for a few concerts, but not sure if he played the piano/keyboard in this mini concert. Was he a former Libera member?
Libera is very busy posting the separate videos from the concert. The last two, Smile and Joyful, Joyful are yet missing, but with the speed of the last days, I expect them until Saturday at the latest.
Here's the full version once more (the links to the individual videos are in my below review) ...
... with landmarks for better orientation:
00:14 Total Praise
02:50 Speech Koji
03:31 Speech Daniel
04:50 Deep Peace
08:07 Speech AlexandreÂ
08:37 Speech Victor
09:34 Tadhg & Moose
10:12 O for the Wings of a Dove
12:34 Ave Maria (Schubert)
15:06 Speech Daniel
16:25 Smile
19:58 Speech KojiÂ
20:21 Joyful, Joyful
After my short initial impressions further above, here are some more notes on the mini-concert:
It was meaningfully called "Apart But Together" and the name alone makes me feel warm inside: No common rehearsals were possible, the compulsory social distancing made every gathering impossible, but ways were found to keep in close contact, to keep working on their music and to deliver an online concert, which actually wasn't long (while honestly, which Libera concert could claim of itself to be long enough? ), but the result exceeded my expectations by far. In addition, the title applies to the connection between them and us. I also like to imagine the variant "A part, but together", every member being an important part of Libera, but only acting together it makes sense.Â
The concert started with Total Praise and it took me a moment to recognise which song it was. I think I must listen more often to really like it, while I'm very fond of the "Amen" at the end, when the harmonies become more and more dense towards the finalising splendid sound. - The accompanying video however disturbs me a little, as the frames and the way they are zoomed remind me of a cage. It got much better later.
After the song, a Koji in best mood greeted us, exactly as we know him on stage. How good that such an online concert casually leads to banning the speeches on a recording as well! Some of them picked up on the topics of their live concert speeches and repeatedly linked to Ely Cathedral where they, under more desirable circumstances, would have been now and many of us with them. I was already laughing with Koji, and the recording scenes presented by Daniel afterwards were not helpful to contain that.
Deep Peace. What a lovely surprise to get this song! And it is mesmerising! I have no words for how much I like Luca's singing here. He sings on an admirably high technical level and his voice is pure silver. It flows like a crystal-clear river, which is also owed to his delightful vibrato. Then four totally different solos follow in the second verse and, though so short, every single one of them is worth talking about: Oliver WR's, always seeming even-tempered, and his beautifully rounded, so friendly sounding, clear voice. Ben's a bit mysterious voice which I like distinctly better here than at other occasions before. Laurence's voice reminding me most pleasantly of a bell. Neo's brightly shimmering voice that struck me so much already before, and all of them warmly enfolded in the choir harmonies. It is all wonderful. Robert's skillful use of varying the tempo along the song contributes a lot to the breathing feeling of the music, thus increasing its emotional depth. - Luca closes the song and again: I find his voice sublime. There's a sensitivity in it which touches my heart directly. Libera's Deep Peace version always evokes the image of feathers or clouds looking like cotton wool in me for the dreamful sound. Parts of the beautiful video running in the background match that. Amazing. That song is my utmost highlight of the mini-concert!
From Alexandre we learnt that lockdowns don't even stop at white robes.  So the performances had to happen in their equally white hoodies. As usual, Victor served as a talented model. He took over and announced the following two songs with his face beaming with so much joy out of the hood that once again any resistance was pointless. He was smiling so intensely that he repeatedly seemed to be shortly before a fit of laughter. The next one was Tadhg to introduce Moose and in his case one must say that such an online event has its concrete benefits, as the audience got to see photos of his world trips. Only oh! Each time I see that photo of Moose on the Empire State Building, my heart skips a beat for fear he might fall down, the poor one ... before I become aware that photos show the past and that it rather obviously ended well for all of us.Â
O For the Wings of a Dove -Â first sung note, directly exquisite! Not only is this piece particularly enchanting by itself (well, it's Mendelssohn, right?!), but Dominik's dedicated performance is a feast for the senses. He treats the melody with a wonderful tenderness - a strength of him anyway that in this song corresponds really well with the image of the flying dove - and has excellent control over his voice. The tonal development of "forever" at 11:46 (1:34) and the subsequent seamless legato line at 11:50 (1:38) for example are simply fabulous!Â
After I've been following his singing experiments during the current lockdown weeks with arias (he even tried opera, where's the like button here?) up to a Dominik-Dominik duet, which I intensely enjoyed and admired, I can testify him that the practice of those pieces has turned out the ideal preparation for the expressive and homogeneous interpretation he presents here. I'm hooked! Also the video is beautiful, featuring Ely Cathedral and the instrumental group. And how the main lines are all pointing towards Dominik around 12:16 (2:06), wow.
If the previous three songs had already been surprise after surprise, Schubert's Ave Maria had never been on my radar for this concert at all. While I prefer both the other two Libera Ave Maria (Robert, Vavilov/Caccini). Too often heard probably in too many versions. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful and intimate piece and Tadhg puts plenty of feeling in it! The video matches the song perfectly with impressions of Ely Cathedral. I enjoy the way it enframes Tadhg at the beginning - and this camera take links it to the end of Dominik's video before - as well as the very nice pictures of the other boys, who gently carry Tadhg's solo with their harmonies.
During Daniel's speech the boys granted the amazed audience an insight into their lockdown activities, one of which was having a little baby sister. Full of joy and pride her big brother, yet mini-boy Joseph showed her into the camera, a perfect optic transition to the subsequent Smile, which began along the way. For who would not have smiled at this sight?
Smile has been an established concert component over quite a while and as such has become very familiar to us. Victor sings it reliably well as usual, Mathias joins him with the lower octave to a moving duet and a very fine video accompanies the music: The choir groups around Victor in a compact manner, which underlines their belonging together. It is especially nice to see the older boys or young men resp. again and this recording was the opportunity to place them in the front for a change. More, more, please! The dark trees and the mist lying over the scenes at last fade away and only brightness remains.
Next speech was up and Koji appeared once more. I love Koji's speeches, as he always virtually bubbles over with enthusiasm. However, he came out with the dreaded sentence: "Sadly, we're coming to the final song of this mini-concert." Noooo, was my reflex, you can't be serious! On the other hand, I was and am so thankful that Libera undertook all these efforts to gift us with such a gem, consoling us for the cancelled (hopefully only postponed) Ely concert and certainly acting very favourably for the Libera choir itself: For their music and for their social life among each other by continuing to rehearse and opening up a perspective for the boys by working for the realisation of this small, but very nice concert plus the EP, which has been announced in the meantime.
Then it was time for Joyful, Joyful, thoughtfully placed at the end like an encouragement and a strong statement of standing together through these times. And - subjectively - I also understand it as a promise that the distancing period will end and then they will be there for us again - live and in person! Here, all choir and orchestra members appear again for the finale and also Ely Cathedral. Somehow it moves me how they tried to comfort us by the illusion that we are there all the same with all those Cathedral images.Â
And now, if someone out there would like some fun, have a look at 22:43: Is Dominik playing the cello? Is Luca playing the piano? Â
Well, a mini concert requires a mini review. Here it is:
Favourite song: Deep Peace
Favourite speech: Perhaps Koji's initial one, but it's hard to decide
Favourite song video: Same. I just take out the first one and all others are great.
Favourite non-music behind the scenes part: The new siblings, how adorable that is! I've watched it uncountable times.
Favourite choir: Libera
So yes, I'm thankful as well as impressed by the brilliant result for heart and mind of the audience. Great song selection, the absolutely outstanding sound, the entertaining speeches, the creative and very well crafted videos that left no chance to take the eyes off the screen. I had not expected such a big variety in every regard and it will accompany me for a long time to discover every detail.
The form was mini - the content was huge! Thank you, Libera!
[Edited 13.06.2020 to add the so far missing links for "Smile" and "Joyful, Joyful"]
Last edited by filiarheni on Sat Jun 13, 2020 4:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"But in the dark and cold of things there always, always something sings"
Brilliant review as always, filiarheni! Reading your highly descriptive and detail oriented commentary, I was forced to re-watch each song after reading your review so as to full appreciate your analysis!
So much about this concert has been uplifting for us as fans who, due to our own lives, have also been stranded at home or otherwise not living a "normal" life the last few months. To see the choir perform so wonderfully was inspiring and helpful in these uncertain times.
I disagree only with your reference to the boys looking like they were in a cage on "Total Praise" . I certainly understand your impression but I think they did a good job with that visual effect and it did not bother me. They were certainly singing "outside the box" with this particular concert. I have not seen any choir of this size, of any age, do anything quite this elaborate. They have set the bar for lockdown videos!
Surpinto wrote: ↑<span title="Fri Jun 12, 2020 1:32 am">4 years ago</span>I disagree only with your reference to the boys looking like they were in a cage on "Total Praise" . I certainly understand your impression but I think they did a good job with that visual effect and it did not bother me. They were certainly singing "outside the box" with this particular concert!
Yeah, I felt disturbed by the lines just going over their faces at zooming. Also, I find the frame lines so thick. If they were thinner, then I'd presumably like it better. But I'm glad you disagree, as that means that you enjoy it.
"But in the dark and cold of things there always, always something sings"
After the initial excitement has quieted down somewhat, it was possible to appreciate all the concert’s details in the past week.
And since ‘someone’ persuaded me to add my thoughts on them, here they are
Total praise – a precious moment for me was the second line ‘knowing my help is coming from you’ (Daniel, Ben and Mathias). It’s very delicate and has a beautiful glowy sound to it. A surprise for me that they sang this song. I guess they only sing this when they know millions are watching
Koji’s usual bubbly excitement can be heard very well when he says: ‘so many countries… kind of’ and: ‘Actually...’ when describing the editing of themselves into Ely Cathedral. His emphasis on details of his speech makes him a very pleasant speaker to listen to.
Daniel’s speech revealed something I had completely missed the first time, which is that they all had to sing ‘as it were solo’, so no chance for a cough or a sneeze. For singers in a choir it’s familiar: if you miss a note or take a breath where you’re not supposed to, in general it’s not such a problem if everyone else is singing just fine. But with this lockdown recording there is no depending on others: everyone has to do their best to make sure the overall sound is right there all the time. So maybe, these challenging circumstances have been an unexpected extra singing lesson focusing on technique!
ETA - the little bloopers of them recording individually were golden!
The mini-boy at 3:48 who goes 'whaa no!' and then when everything's set up the camera drops (it's hilarious and so true to life)
and if that wasn't enough, we also get the sheer bliss of Hal laughing uncontrollably and his two thumbs up in the end
Deep peace – I’ll just add what I think of the four solos in the second verse. Oliver: very steady and clear, Ben: a kind of airy softness. Laurence: the most precious for me as we get to hear a rare glimpse of his beautiful voice, which is powerful with a golden shine to it. Neo: when I’m just listening and not watching the video at the same time, as soon as I recognise it’s him I start smiling as he always has such a smile himself and it’s infectious! His voice is both full and light at the same time.
The back row adds wonderful colour to this song.
The shot where they are walking in their robes through a hallway (at a concert, I think) made me miss them very much…
Alexandre did a great speech! Very well spoken and how nice to explain about the robes.
Victor’s speech was very entertaining with his constant smile and I laugh out loud every time at his joke about not breaking the old 78 record
Tadhg once again proved an excellent promotor of Moose
O for the Wings – Dominik sings so consistently and the sound of his voice is so clear and round and full. He flows with the notes and clearly enjoys to let the music come through. This song is a classic on the boy soprano repertoire and so it’s a great achievement to add this on his catalogue of recordings. His recording could become another famous standard in my opinion.
Ave Maria – the more I listen to it, the more I am impressed. This is such a sensitive version. Tadhg’s singing is very pleading, he really expresses the feeling of the prayer. I keep seeing the image of a flame I want to shield with my hand. The flame is strong but also vulnerable. This is my favourite song of the concert.
The home videos were a lovely and fun glimpse into lockdown life:
Nathaniel’s toboggan reminded me of a funny comic book from my childhood
I loved seeing the art that Laurence D made and how proud he looks while showing it
I also liked how Mathias (or ‘Matti’ as Daniel says) used his backyard and imagination to go on wild adventures!
Daniel has many talents: singing, holding speeches and even magic! I wonder if he will do a trick for us at a concert next time
Jack’s cat Bonzo did great at the Jenga challenge and got to cuddle with Moose as a reward (hmm, or at least one of Moose’s relatives )
I loved and admired the cube solving! It reminded me I haven’t done any cubing lately (mine is now in a position that is so cool but I don’t want to change it as I have no idea how to ever get it back in that position.. maybe I should show it to Freddy and Lewis and they can explain it to me ) And I don’t think I’ve seen that many people do one of those types of cubes. Excellent job, guys!
Plus we now also know that Libera has its own mini-orchestra among the boys: I’ve seen piano, drumming, violin, trumpet…
Not to mention sports (soccer, table tennis, regular tennis) and making large puzzles!
The funniest bit was Hal running along the street in a box. I loved how they kept the sound of him banging on a pan in that recording. Hal is hilarious! Yorkie pointed out on Twitter that this may have been part of clapping for the NHS, well, in that case, Hal is also doing a great job to keep the spirits up in supporting all the healthcare workers!
It was fun to watch and comforting to know the boys have kept themselves busy during these strange and difficult times.
Next up Smile, which is a heartwarming recording.
Victor’s somewhat husky voice and strong high notes paired with the glow of Mathias’ voice is perfect!
Again, the back row shines in this one too.
Joyful joyful was a bittersweet moment, the ending came much too soon! But it’s a glorious version, with everyone joining in. Precious moment of Daniel with Luca and Dom.
Hmm, shall I just watch it one more time?
Last edited by maartendas on Sun Jun 14, 2020 6:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
You raise me high beyond the sky
Through stormy night lifting me above
Excellent review, Maartendas! Whoever persuaded you to post your review here did the right thing lest you face the wrath thereof.
I agree very much with your description of "Ave Maria"; you really captured the essence of the tender and sensitive rendition Tadhg delivered for us.
Thank you again for your review. Am I forever condemned to re-watching the concert every time someone posts a review so as to see it through their eyes? Why yes, yes I am.
Well done to Jack's cat on passing the Jenga challenge ! Why is Hal running in a box ??? Joseph's sister is really cute (and so is her big brother).
 So the performances had to happen in their equally white hoodies. As usual, Victor served as a talented model. He took over and announced the following two songs with his face beaming with so much joy out of the hood that once again any resistance was pointless. He was smiling so intensely that he repeatedly seemed to be shortly before a fit of laughter. The next one was Tadhg to introduce Moose and in his case one must say that such an online event has its concrete benefits, as the audience got to see photos of his world trips. Only oh! Each time I see that photo of Moose on the Empire State Building, my heart skips a beat for fear he might fall down, the poor one 
... before I become aware that photos show the past and that it rather obviously ended well for all of us. 
On the other hand, I was and am so thankful that Libera undertook all these efforts to gift us with such a gem, consoling us for the cancelled (hopefully only postponed) Ely concert and certainly acting very favourably for the Libera choir itself: For their music and for their social life among each other by continuing to rehearse and opening up a perspective for the boys by working for the realisation of this small, but very nice concert plus the EP, which has been announced in the meantime.
