Moscow International House of Music
Today was the day! Libera performed in Moscow for the first time! And thanks to Patrick from France, we have a first-hand account of it. All photos are his, so if you copy any, please give him credit. :)
The lobby before the concert with Libera on the display screen.
Robert Prizeman stood at this center music stand.
Stage before concert. The concert must have been sold out, because
you can see people at the upper left level who stood during the concert!
Audience before the concert. Do you see yourself in this picture? :)
1. Marc Alvares
2. Shay Balsekar
3. Ciaran Bradbury-Hickey
4. Merlin Brouwer
5. Gabriel Collins
6. Thomas Delgado-Little
7. Alex Gula
8. Matthew Jansen
9. Timothy Lee
10. Isaac London
11. Alessandro MacKinnon-Botti
12. Matthew Madine
13. Michael Menezes
14. Alex Montoro
15. Jakub Niedermaier-Reed
16. Cassius O'Connell-White
17. Matthew Rangel-Alvares
18. Bertie Smart
19. Camden Stewart
20. Rocco Tesei
21. Sam Wiggin
22. Lucas Wood
Artistic Director - Robert Prizeman
Flute - Candice Hamel
Keyboards - Joshua Madine
Percussion - Jonathan Ormston
Tom singing "Ave Maria" ~ photo by Official Libera
Libera during the final applause!! :D
The song list is amazing! This may be the best song list that includes Christmas carols ever! First, the audience got to hear Voca Me. But add to that Wexford Carol, Carol of the Bells, Ave Maria, Wayfaring Stranger, Amazing Grace, Song of Life, and How Shall I Sing That Majesty. Now as if that isn't over-the-top spectacular enough, they ended with What a Wonderful World!!! Whaaaat?!! I think I'm going to faint. Seriously. Some songs were replaced or moved around compared to the program, (but I'll notate that) so that makes it the same song list as at last month's London concert but in a slightly different order.
Robert Prizeman stood down on the main floor at a music stand at the center. There were 9 other musicians besides the 3 listed above, so I am assuming they were hired in Russia as Libera usually does.
Song List -
1. Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
2. Joy to the World
Speech - Alex Gula spoke in Russian. He said, "Welcome! Welcome to our show. We are very happy to visit your beautiful country. Thank you for coming to our evening." Next applause and he announced the next song, "What Child Is This." Thanks to Антон Беляев who wrote a comment to the blog below. :)
3. What Child Is This - solo by Isaac with Ciaran
4. The Prayer - solo by Isaac, high notes by Tom DL
5. Sanctus - middle harmony and last "Sanctus Sanctus by Bertie
6. Voca Me - high notes by Lucas, last "Voca me" by Ciaran
7. Wexford Carol (replaced Still, Still, Still) - solo in Gaelic by Isaac
8. Carol of the Bells - high part by Tom and Lucas, last "Ding dong" by Isaac
9. Ave Maria - solo by Tom (who was top-of-form!), harmony on second verse by 8 boys
10. How Shall I Sing That Majesty - solo by Lucas and Alessandro, high notes by Tom
~Interval~
11. Conditor Alme Siderum - sung a capella while walking on stage with Sam starting and others joining in
12. Angels We Have Heard On High
13. Away In a Manger - solo by Alex Gula on the third verse
14. Wayfaring Stranger - solo by Sam
15. Amazing Grace - solo by Ciaran
16. Gaudete - solo by Lucas
17. Song of Life - solo by Isaac
18. How Great Thou Art- solo by Sam
19. Silent Night - solo by Tom
Speech - Alex Gula spoke in Russian
20. In Dulci Jubilo
Encore - What a Wonderful World - solo Isaac
There were very long applause after each song with many in the audience yelling "Bravo!" After the last song, the applause and yelling were so long and loud, that Robert Prizeman had to motion to the audience to quiet down a bit so they could sing "What a Wonderful World" for the encore! Yay, for Russian fans!!! It sounds like they LOVE Libera!!! :D
The concert program is printed in Russian Cyrillic and English!
Concert program cover
Concert program song list part 1
Concert program song list part 2
Concert program explaining Libera
If you would like to see more fans photos (especially if you can read Russian Cyrillic) you can join
1. The Russian fan forum vk.com/liberafans
2. Russian blogger George's site Chori ANGeLORUM
George should have his concert review written by tomorrow.
Stay tuned for Patrick's full review of the concert! We need to let him fly home first. :D
Libera leaving the concert hall.
Congratulations on such a great concert, boys! :D
Chicago Time
London Time
Tokyo Time
Amazing! Is just amazing to see how these boys have conquered so many hearts and souls with their music! some of them older ones, can truly notice how big their duty as rue singers are. I don't like to smear young pop singers, but they simply don't do anything extraordinary and consider themselves stars! While these kids show themselves as normal students who sing in a prestigious professional international acclaimed choir! Personally meting them could be for me like meeting Michael Jackson, that's how big my admiration is towards them.
ReplyDeleteHas Ben Fairman left Libera? Does anybody know why?
ReplyDeleteLexi, thank you so much for your wonderful blog. It's a great way to follow Libera's activities. I have been a follower since the Canada tour and I always enjoy reading it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I enjoyed this blog
ReplyDeleteGreetings fans of Libera. I had the honor to be at this concert. Coincidentally, for me it was not only the first concert Libera, but my first visit to Moscow. So now for me to Moscow to be associated with this concert and the wonderful memories of him. Here is the text of greeting with which Alex Gula addressed the audience: "Welcome! Welcome to our show. We are very happy to visit your beautiful country. Thank you for coming to our evening." Next applause and he announced the next song, "What a child"
ReplyDeleteM.R. Miranda - I agree! I hope you do get to meet them! It is a very special thing to see them sing live. :)
ReplyDeleteChris and Troy - Thanks so much! Glad you enjoy it! :D
ReplyDeleteАнтон Беляев - Thank you so much for the translation of Alex's speech! I will update the post to show that. I am so happy for you that you got to go to your first Libera concert! I heard it was an amazing concert and that the audience loved it and applauded loudly! :D
ReplyDeleteDavey - I don't know. Ben was at the Washington DC concert and DVD filming in August and the filming for the "Wonderful World" music video in Leeds in October. He was not on stage for the London concert in December or this Moscow concert. It may have to do with school or studies, but we often never know why a boy leaves the choir. If he has left, he will be missed a lot. He is a wonderful singer and a very sweet kid.
ReplyDelete