Concert in Moscow - my review

Preface

Yesterday, after I wrote my traditional review in Russian, I, out of curiosity, 'translated' my review into English using Google Translate. What came out of it was hilarious and, obviously, had little to do with what I really intended to say. So, as an exception and owing to this extraordinary circumstance (AFAIK, there were only three 'regulars' in the audience, apart from me), I decided to write this review in English as well. Please note though that this English text is not a translation of my review in Russian!

Programme

As I suspected (based on the experience of attending this Christmas festival previously), no separate programme dedicated to Libera only was published - just three pages on the general programme of the festival. Obviously, no list of Libera members who were participating at the concert was given, but thanks to Patrick we've been able to figure out who did participate at the concert: Marc Alvares, Shay Balsekar, Ciarán Bradbury-Hickey, Merlin Brouwer, Gabriel Collins, Thomas Delgado-Little, Alex Gula, Matthew Jansen, Timothy Lee, Isaac London, Alessandro MacKinnon-Botti, Matthew Madine, Michael Menezes, Alex Montoro, Jakub Niedermaier-Reed, Cassius O'Connell-White, Matthew Rangel-Alvares, Bertie Smart, Camden Stewart, Rocco Tesei, Sam Wiggin, Lucas Wood - totally 22 persons; plus Josh Madine on the keyboards, Kavana Crossley as stage manager (didn't see him at all, but he definitely was in Moscow as well), Andy Winter and, obviously, RP himself; plus usual Libera orchestra members Candice Hamel (flute) and Jonathan Ormston (percussion). Alas, no Steven Geraghty.

Track List

First Part:

1. Joyful Joyful

2. Joy to the World

Alex Gula's welcome speech (in Russian - quite a good Russian, btw, except for some wrongly placed stresses).

3. What Child is This? (solos Isaac London, Ciarán Bradbury-Hickey)

4. The Prayer (solo Isaac London)

5. Sanctus. (final 'Sanctus' sung by Bertie Smart)

6. Voca me (high harmonies by Lucas Wood, final 'Voca me' by Ciarán Bradbury-Hickey)

7. Wexford Carol (solos Isaac London (first phrase in Irish), Sam Wiggin).

(The programme had 'Still Still Still' instead, but Wexford Carol is much better, so I can't complain!)

8. Carol of the Bells ('vocalises' by Isaac London, Lucas Wood (I think it was him); final phrase by Isaac London.

9. Ave Maria (Schubert) (solo by Thomas Delgado-Little)

10. How Shall I Sing That Majesty? (soloists Lucas Wood, Alessandro McKinnon-Botti)

Part 2

1. Conditor Alme Siderum (intro solo by Sam Wiggin)

2. Angels we have heard (no break between 'Conditor...' and 'Angels...')

(when the song ended, Andy Winter ushered Alex Wood from the stage)

3. Away in a Manger (soloist Alex Gula).

(Alex Wood back on the stage)

4. Wayfaring Stranger (soloist Sam Wiggin)

5. Gaudete (soloist Lucas Wood).

(Lucas made a tiny mistake - he sang Christus ex natus instead of Christus est natus... )

6. Song of Life (soloist Isaac London).

7. How Great Thou Art (soloist Sam Wiggin)

8. Silent Night (soloist Thomas Delgado-Little)

Alex Gula's speech in Russian (announcing that the next song will the the last one and adding 'Happy New Year' in the end).

9. In Dulci Jubilo

(standing ovation, a lot of shouting 'bravo', but no whistling; Robert had to calm the audience down) 

10. What a Wonderful World (soloist Isaac London)

Impressions, analysis

Soloists, highlights

The main surprise for me was, doubtless, Thomas Delgado-Little's coming back as a soloist. My impressions are mixed though. While his Silent Night in Part 2 was impressive, I can't really forget his struggling in Ave Maria (excellent high notes, but not exactly impressive mid notes). It could very well be that he didn't have time to warm up properly, however I can't shake the thought that what we heard was his swan song. I really hope I'm mistaken.

Isaac was again main soloist, He was phenomenal in The Prayer, What Child is This and What a Wonderful World (sublime pectoral voice with just a slight vibrato - a true bliss), but was less impressive in Song of Life, a difficult song even for experienced singers - with lots of leaps from low to high notes and back: he really struggled negotiating these leaps properly and some of the sounds produced by him were even slightly out of pitch.
Sam Wiggin - it really grew on me as a soloist, but I wish his voice were a little bit 'crispy'.
Alex Gula - can't say anything definitive about his voice yet (even if I liked his solo in Away in a Manger), but I was particularly impressed by his articulation, which reminded me Ben Crawley.
Lucas Wood - impressive high notes.

Highlights of the concert were, IMHO, The Prayer (they should really keep it and I really hope I will hear it on their upcoming Blu-Ray!), What Child is This and It's A Wonderful World. I wish I could say the same about Wexford Carol, but alas - compared to Norwood, it wasn't really impressive - not because of the soloist, but because of the poor acoustics of the venue.

Sound, special effects

Dull and flat, but obviously the blame must be laid on the designers, builders & owners of the venue, rather than on Libera (the latter did all they could to make it sound properly in the short period of time they had between their arrival and the concert, but how on earth can you achieve a proper sound in that concrete monstrosity of a venue? You'd need a 'live' acoustic environment of a church.)

Lighting effects - much less impressive than in London, the reasons, obviously, are the same as described above.

Audience

From what I could see, they were really impressed, considering the fact the Russian audience are somewhat restrained in expressing their emotions - just clapping and 'bravo' shouts, no whistling. Since RP had to resort to gesticulation to calm them down, I'd say it was a success (the Choir of the Westminster Abbey were greeted with less enthusiasm.). I wish Libera themselves smiled a little bit more, but you could say their lack of reaction was due to their extreme tiredness.

Summarizing

Success? Oh yes, there's no doubt about it. What's good, Libera didn't include any Russian song, like Kalinka, Podmoskovnye Vechera or similar rubbish, however I wouldn't mind hearing Mother of God (with lyrics written by Lermontov!), but it's better nothing than Kalinka!
I have one complaint though - no speeches from Libera boys (except for Alex, who did a great job speaking in Russian), however just intro and farewell speeches are really not enough: why not say all that in English (you can invite an interpreter or you can even leave it just in English - I am sure at least one third of the audience would have been able to understand something of what they were saying, and this way you wouldn't have deprived us English speaking audience of your hilarious intros!)
Last, but not least - consider changing the venue next time, if you ever come to Moscow again. There are places with far better acoustics than that of the "Svetlanov Hall" - for ex. Chaykovsky Hall (for ex. William Christie's Les Arts Florissants normally perform there). And of course, give the choristers some rest, don't make them travel for 12 hours for just one concert without any fun. Of course, Moscow's not exactly the place of fun right now...

P.S. A Czech choir, Boni Pueri, performed in the same auditorium just one day before Libera and some people attended both concerts. It's a hearsay, obviously, but according to them, Boni Pueri are not even close to Libera.