Concert in Arundel - 5 May 2012

[Sue]

It was a very interesting concert. Here are the first informations for you

Boys on stage were:

Lucas Wood,
Michael Ustynovych-Repa,
Bertie Smart,
Ralph Skan,
Adrian Sheard,
Carlos Rodriguez,
Matt Rangel-Alvares,
Cassius O'Connell-White,
Kuba Niedermaier-Reed,
Michael Menezes,
Oscar McFall,
Eoghan McCarthy,
Matt Madine,
Isaac London,
Barnaby Lindsell,
Stefan Leadbeater,
Matt Jansen,
Benjamin Fairman,
Dylan Duffy,
Thomas Delgado-Little,
Kavana Crossley,
Luke & Jude Collins,
Henry Barrington

been missing:

Ciaran Bradbury-Hickey

Newbies on stage were:

Anthony Blake
& Sam Wiggin

former Libera-boys who helped out / worked on:

Jonathan Barrington,
Tiarnan Branson,
Steven Geragthy,
Ben Crawley,
Sam Coates,
Simon Lewis
& Andrew Winter

in the audience I've seen:

Daniel Fontannaz
& Benedict Philipp

the song list was:

Jubilate
Libera
Song of Life
Sanctissima
Sanctus
I Vow To Thee
Eternal Light
Salva Me
Do not stand
Exultate
Orinoco Flow
Gloria
The Fountain
Dies Ira
Grateful Heart
Stay With Me
Ave Verum
Far Away
Glory To Thee
How shall I sing

[TullyBascombe]

Is Bertie Smart related to Alfie Smart?

[dani]

Is Bertie Smart related to Alfie Smart?

yep a brother

[Sue]

Here are some snapshots from my signed concert program..

[danieb88]

Hey guys, am home now back in south Wales! What a fab concert! Despite being only 5 rows from the back, I had a fantastic time and could see most of what was going on just fine! The boys were on top form, Ralph especially was great! I thought Stefan was fab in the 1st half but I think he needed a good cough in the 2nd half so was struggling! Poor lad! Notable performances for me were Matthew Jansens I vow to thee, Stefan and Ralph on do not stand and dies iraes also!
Few questions for those who were able to get abit closer! Who sang the alleuias on jubilate to start? Who sang the final Sanctus? And I don't suppose anyone recognised the song eoghan sang at the start of the 2nd half? It was fab! He's got an amazing voice that boy!
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed like I did!

[dani]

Hey guys, am home now back in south Wales! What a fab concert! Despite being only 5 rows from the back, I had a fantastic time and could see most of what was going on just fine! The boys were on top form, Ralph especially was great! I thought Stefan was fab in the 1st half but I think he needed a good cough in the 2nd half so was struggling! Poor lad! Notable performances for me were Matthew Jansens I vow to thee, Stefan and Ralph on do not stand and dies iraes also!
Few questions for those who were able to get abit closer! Who sang the alleuias on jubilate to start? Who sang the final Sanctus? And I don't suppose anyone recognised the song eoghan sang at the start of the 2nd half? It was fab! He's got an amazing voice that boy!
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed like I did!

Glad you enjoyed it


Matthew J was amazing on I Vow to Thee. Was that Eoghan or Barney ?.. i get confused by the two and for some reason thought it was Barney ( but i am sure i got the two mixed up)

[dani]

Hey guys, am home now back in south Wales! What a fab concert! Despite being only 5 rows from the back, I had a fantastic time and could see most of what was going on just fine! The boys were on top form, Ralph especially was great! I thought Stefan was fab in the 1st half but I think he needed a good cough in the 2nd half so was struggling! Poor lad! Notable performances for me were Matthew Jansens I vow to thee, Stefan and Ralph on do not stand and dies iraes also!
Few questions for those who were able to get abit closer! Who sang the alleuias on jubilate to start? Who sang the final Sanctus? And I don't suppose anyone recognised the song eoghan sang at the start of the 2nd half? It was fab! He's got an amazing voice that boy!
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed like I did!

I think the last sanctus was Luke Collins. I did feel bad for Stefan but it happens to all boys and he had lost that great control over his voice. I am sure once it settles he will still have a great voice. It was personally bitter sweet to see his last concert as a treble but i have no doubt his future is bright as he is such a amazing talent as we have all seen in the last 3/4 years.

[danieb88]

I thought it was eoghan but I was pretty far back! What was that song? It was really lovely! I also had a lovely chat with Daniel, and got him to also sign my program he says he's still in the choir, he just isn't able to rehearse at the mo cos of GCSEs (which I guess we already knew!) what a really nice guy he is though

[theforestdweller]

A marvelous evening , in fact for my Wife and myself a brilliant weekend. Having booked premium seats and then booking the last room at the adjoining pub, we could ask for nothing more. The concert was everything we could have hoped for. A wide variety of music and showcasing very talented youngsters whether performing solos or not. This was our third concert (Epson & Southwark previously), and to my untrained ear Arundel seemed to have the most suitable acoustics. Possibly not given enough credit were the musicians, who while small in number were large in sound - credit also to those balancing the sound with the music.

From a personal point of view I hope that Libera perform in the UK in a theatre environment again - Tiered seating providing an enhanced and uninterrupted view and no queuing to ensure the best seats! I admire the tenacity of those that I saw gathered at the entrance to the cathedral at about 2:30pm, but for one of advancing years with a disabled Wife this is not an option for us.

I look forward to learning where in Europe Libera will be performing, and more so to the possibility of a UK venue or venues to follow.

Well done Libera

[Yorkie]

Arundel 2012 – A New Hope


A short while ago in a land not so far away….

Starring:

FDL as C-3PO
Pax Tecum as R2-D2
Dani as Princess Leia
Murkskis as Han Solo
Tom413 as Luke Skywalker (the clean cut all American Hero)
Paul3003 as Chewbacca
John45 as Obi-Wan Kenobi
Viabuona as Yoda
Yorkie as Darth Vader

It was a period of change within the Rebel Alliance. New Jedi-singers had been called to service as the experienced old guard had to contend with the ‘Force’ of change and revising for their X-Wing pilot’s licences. But the Alliance was fighting back. A message was beamed to all four corners of the Galaxy for the faithful to gather in the cantina in the quaint olde worlde back-water planet of England for a demonstration of the powers that General Dodonna had been able to instil in his Younglings through their superior training.

And so they came, travelling vast distances to arrive in Arundel. Lord Vader travelled on the sand speeder the night before the concert with his faithful droids 3PO and R2. Vader, not being familiar with the droid language, needed 3PO to translate R2’s excited beeps, tweets and whistles. Clearly R2 was very excited on his first visit to England to witness the glorious power of the Jedi-singers. They were met at the station by Luke Skywalker in his hired Millennium Falcon. Like R2 this was Luke’s first trip to England but he had run in to some problems, as it appeared that the garbage masher had consumed his luggage on the voyage across the Milky Way.

Luke was also struggling to cope with the strange driving style that the locals had adopted as well as the narrow twisty roads and roundabouts. To be fair he’d had a long trip was probably just a bit cranky from starlag. Anyway, Luke had offered to run Vader and the droids to their various lodgings in town which was very much appreciated. At the Swan Hotel Vader joined forces with Yoda who had used his powers to ensure a nice pint of beer was ready and waiting for Vader – a class act that Yoda. After Vader had consumed some sausages with mashed potatoes and onion gravy they wandered up the hill to the Inn next to the cantina where they joined 3PO, R2 and Luke for a drink or two and to discuss plans for tomorrow’s siege of the cantina.

After a full English breakfast at the Swan (including black pudding and of course baked beans), Darth and Yoda proceeded to the local store to buy in provisions for the 9 hour siege that they, Luke, and the droids were about to undertake to ensure the best possible seats for the coming show. On the way up to the cantina Darth and Yoda stopped to take some photo’s of the street and castle. Unfortunately, they didn’t realise that on the way down from the cantina was a group of support staff and techies (you know the ones) at the exact same time they took the photo; hopefully they didn’t think Darth was snapping a picture of them because that would be just ‘creepy stalker’ weird.

So, the great wait started at about 10:00 am in less than favourable conditions. C-3PO was shivering so badly from the cold that I feared his delicate frame wouldn’t survive the wait; happily it seems that Libera’s number one fan is made of sterner stuff. Chewbacca teleported in at about 11:00 am. Obi-Wan wafted in for a brief visit before going off to visit his sister who lives near by, safe in the knowledge that his supreme Jedi powers would secure him a favourable position inside the cantina when he returned later that night. Next to arrive was Princess Leia, and finally Han Solo. The old team reunited again for another long wait, but happily anticipating the reward to come.

Once the doors shut at 4:00 pm we enjoyed a game of guess the song from the sounds we could hear through the doors. Although we expected the same set as the recent Asia concerts it proved to be a fun diversion from the pain in our feet and temperatures not seen since the concerts last year in Hoth. A storm of excitement was generated by the sale of the programmes – not the quality but the choice of signed or unsigned (£8 for signed, £2 for unsigned). Not sure how many they had signed, but they sold out in minutes. Han was dispatched to use his charms to ensure we got one each; he doesn’t mess about and the programmes were bought, photographed and uploaded to Twitter in no time. We then set about identifying which of the Younglings were new and who was missing. Sue has set out the full list above so I’ll not repeat it.

As the doors opened at 7:00 pm Lord Vader was first through and proceeded down the nave, flanked by his Storm Troopers, to the sound of the Imperial March. Front left pews were reserved for the likes of Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker. Front two right pews were already filled with premium ticket holding families (with a row of chairs for a few nano Younglings and a chaperone in front). However, at the end of each pew, in the aisle, a chair had been placed to increase seating capacity. Vader occupied the front one; prime position front and centre of the stage. Result? Afraid that Lord Vader’s stunning visage would distract the boys, a quick seat swap was undertaken with Leia – a selfless act for the sake of the rest of the audience. The final act before the show began was to order ‘The St George’s invasive paparrazi’ to stop videoing and to put his camera away (he was intending to film the concert) or risk a mind choke.

Thoughts on the concert to follow.

[fan_de_LoK]

Wow, so crazily good pre-concert review, your dark highness

I wonder how would be the concert review if seen with same eyes I remember the feast with music and songs in the forest of Endor

[Yorkie]

I have uploaded some pictures to an album if anybody is interested:

http://s716.photobucket.com/albums/ww16 ... el%202012/

Unfortunately the order of them is reversed from what I intended. Apologies for the quality, they were just quick snaps with my phone.

[Yorkie]

So, now to some of my impressions of the concert, the songs and last but not least the boys. I made no notes at the time so this is from memory over 36 hours later. I think FDL was taking some discrete notes and will probably post over on the French forum if you are after details about formations, coloured lighting and so on.

First, a comparison with the last Arundel concert. 2010 had seen a major swap over in personal for the group. I think Ben P was the only ‘major’ soloist left from the Leiden concerts. Also in 2010 the concert was the warm up for a tour, where as this time the boys were well practised after their very successful concerts in Asia. But just as 2010 brought opportunities for new singers to have a go at our favourite songs so it proved again in 2012. And very well they all did too.

This concert was very good. Much of the ‘work’ (I suspect it is actually great fun – it certainly is for those of us lucky enough to be in the audience) was carried on the shoulders of Ralph who was well up to the task. He is in that golden stage at the moment, voice wise, and he was delivering some great vocals. A special mention to Stefan too. I remember when he seemingly popped out from nowhere to stun us with his ability and to be a mainstay of the concert programme for the last two years. Well at 14 he is likely to be nearing the end of his time as a soloist, but of course we all know what we are signing up to when we become Libera fans. He was still able to hold his own on Saturday and sang brilliantly. If there are concerts later this year that are not in some far flung places I hope to be able to be there – if not, well at least I was there for a great Ralph and Stef show.

We couldn’t applaud RP’s arrival to the stage because as he appeared they played a recorded? message by one of the boys (Cassius?) asking us turn off phones and not to take pictures or film the show (the need for this message was almost certainly a reaction to the nonsense that occurred at Epsom). I’m sure RP appeared at exactly that moment so we couldn’t applaud him! But we got our own back when he came on for the second part of the concert

Theatre. You always get a touch of theatre at a Libera concert. I’m not sure who comes up with the staging ideas but they had a couple of great ones to start both the first half and second half of the concerts. At the start of the concert six boys appeared on stage to the haunting Alleluia’s that mark the start of Jubilate. Only 6? (Ralph, Mathew J, Cassius, Matthew RA, Eoghan & possibly Barney?). The rest of the boys processed up the nave, two by two, to take their places on stage. As you all know this song morphs seamlessly in to Libera and Ralph really nailed that soaring ‘Libera’ finish.

The beautiful Song of Life next and Ralph of course provided the core of ‘his’ song in a beautiful, rich, liquid gold voice that is just a pleasure to listen to. On to Sanctissma and once again it was Ralph taking on the major part of this song – kneeling! I don’t think the boys had a single note out of place during these two songs. Very impressive start.

Singers come and singers go; there will always be a Sanctus. Benedictus, benedictus
qui venit in nomine benedictus In nomine Domine as they say and I couldn’t agree more. Whatever the line up, this is always a special song and the entire group was firing on all cylinders for this. I think it was Luke providing the ‘Sanctus’ finish. Confession time. When we discovered ‘I Vow To Thee’ was on the set list I was a bit mmeegghh about it, never having being a big fan of Libera covers of the great British Hymns. Hands up I was wrong. They sounded fantastic, both the group as a whole and the man of the moment – take a bow Mr Jansen. What a fantastic solo, one of the best songs of the night. It would also be wrong of me not to highlight the roles of Thomas & Dylan who were also front and centre for this song – they blended and harmonised beautifully with MJ, both singing really well.

Eternal Light brought Stefan back to the front and of course this is a song that he has made his own. I remember how excited we all were when we heard it and it is a great song but of course very high. Stefan was still able to pull it out of the bag. I did get the impression he had to reach here and there, that it didn’t come as easily as it once did, but that didn’t take away from the performance. Salva Me next and Mathew RA disappeared behind the back to do his trademark ‘Salva’s’ (I couldn’t see where he was but looking at all the boys I could see I deduced it was him who was ‘missing’). Perfect.

Do Not Stand. A truly special highlight of the concert; a memory to treasure. Ralph & Stef reprised the Tom and Ed roles from Leiden. Ralph sang the main song (Tom part) with Stef joining in at the high parts of the song (the Ed part). Ralph actually left the stage for this song taking up position on the central steps that lead up to the stage. The other boys supplied a lovely, mellow backing harmony. Very moving and surely this song alone justified the effort of 9 hours of queuing. The first half ended on Exultate which is about all I can say for that song.

[Yorkie]

So on to the second half. An excellent staging had a hooded Eoghan stood in the aisle to the right of the stage right at the front and to the side of the pews. At first he sang unmic’d, alone, a cappella. He was probably unseen to most of the audience due to the pillars so the effect would have been unearthly as his voice floated out into the Cathedral. As the rest of the boys took to the stage he continued to sing and they gently brought up his mic. I’m not sure if the intention was to always have the mic level slowly raised or whether they just missed it, but it ended up being very effective. I’m not sure what the song was but it sounded familiar I’ll try and locate it but suffice to say Eoghan did a great job. #edit# we now know the song was 'Attende Domine' #

Sail away, sail away, sail away. Orinoco was in full flow and delivered perfectly. It was very effective and I know everybody loves it but I like to start the second half off with Mysterium. I would have loved a repeat of the Stefan and Ralph Chester version, but then perhaps we would have lost Eoghan’s party piece so I guess it’s swings and roundabouts. Gloria was next don’t remember much about it to be honest – obviously it is a group piece but I can’t remember who filled in the little high embellishments.

The Fountain with Ralph. No grand piano at this concert so Robert remained seated at the left hand side of the stage on a quite impressive keyboard. He still played the Chopin intro and it sounded great, they certainly had a great piano sound programmed in. I did wonder whether the lack of piano was because the venue didn’t have one or whether it was an attempt to reduce costs – I honestly can say I didn’t miss it as the keyboard had such a good sound. Ralph, did a great version here but it was the first time I really noticed the new, deep, ‘mature’ tone to his voice which worked really well with the song.

Dies Irae. Again, I have to admit that this was a good song to add to the set list. Without Mysterium or Lament there were no songs with that medieval, ancient feel so this song provided that mood with some great additions of Steven on the recorder. I know there were several prominent singers on this but can only remember Matthew RA, who left his usual role of providing pretty little frills and embellishments done at the back of the group and proved he has so much to offer up front with an expertly performed vocal which was really enjoyable.

Grateful Heart. I deliberately didn’t watch the YouTube version of yesteryear when this song was unveiled in Singapore so I was coming fresh to it here. It was pretty much a Stefan only song, maybe a bit of Ralph thrown in and not much for anybody else to do. Not my favourite of the night (not Stef’s fault, it is an ok song but nothing at all special) Polite applause, move on. Stay with Me. Big shoes to fill on this one from the original with the legendary Joe Platt and Joseph Sanders-Wilde (although I have been told JP did all the vocals for the recording and they had JS-W mime the high part for the video) to the exquisite version done by Ed and Liam in Leiden and latterly by the brilliant Daniel. No way could the younger boys fill those shoes. But they did and then some. Cassius, Dylan and Barney doing the core ‘Ed’ part and Matthew RA doing his trademark high notes.

Ave Verum. My memory escaped me here so I had to sneak a peak at FDL’s write up on the French forum. Apparently, this was sung by Matthew J, Henry and Barney with Matthew RA supplying the high floating embellishments. FDL said the unity of the boys voices was stunning, all sounding as one with perfect blending. I can go with that. I certainly remember it was very soothing and I had a great feeling of peacefulness during the song.

Now for one of the other major highlights of this concert (in my opinion). The first Libera song I heard (or saw) on YouTube was Far Away which is, without question, Michael H’s song. Many have performed it since, some very well, but it is a high bar to reach. Well cometh the hour, cometh the man. Step forward Isaac for a fantastic rendition of Far Away that will live long in the memory. He captured every nuance of the song and never faltered. How a boy of his age (and I have 9 in my mind for some reason but I guess it doesn’t matter) can produce such a full and powerful tone is frankly amazing. Well done young man, I truly think you put a tear in to many eyes that night with your song. In addition to Isaac I believe we had terrific additional support from Cassius and Thomas whose great voices added to the superb performance.

Glory to thee and back to Eoghan (for the solo opening), who performed excellently all evening. This song starts with one singer and then as the song progresses groups of boys join in, a couple of lines behind the last group. This creates a beautiful ‘ripple’ of sound crossing the stage from left to right. Group by group they complete the song and the sound level falls away until just the final verse is sung by a lone voice (Eoghan I assume) before they all sing a moving ‘Amen’ to finish the song. Very effective, and RP should be very happy with they way his arrangement comes across to the audience. Final song, How Shall I Sing (the answer is of course very well indeed!) performed by Eoghan with Stefan providing additional accompaniment. Very warm applause at the end with one of those great standing ovations where by people one by one get to their feet so it just grows and grows in a genuine show of respect and thanks until the whole audience is as one. Brief reprise of Exultate and then they filed of stage to more huge applause and lots of smiles, waves and bouncing from foot to foot by some of the boys.

Finally, mention (as has already been made by others) to the excellent musicians that supported the boys. As well as RP and Steven we had again the string quartet and percussionist. They were excellent and always complemented the boys, never overwhelming them. Since their introduction the concerts have really taken a step forward providing a perfect blend of modern and classical.

[Yorkie]

Few questions for those who were able to get abit closer! Who sang the final Sanctus? And I don't suppose anyone recognised the song eoghan sang at the start of the 2nd half? It was fab! He's got an amazing voice that boy!
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed like I did!

Read my review. Oh alright then. I think it was Luke on the final Sanctus, could be wrong though. Eoghan's opening to the second half was fab. Don't know what it is yet but there was something familiar about it.