PEACE review from BBC.
BBC Review
Nothing new from the young choral ensemble, but well timed for Mother's Day. (uhm. I don't think so Mr. Daniel Ross.)
Daniel Ross 2010-03-12
Libera, the decade-spanning, revolving-door-style boys' choral ensemble, clearly fulfils several different roles for both listener and artist. It's a non-profit organisation that fosters the talents of young Londoners from all backgrounds, whisks them around the world on tours and lets them record popular albums – all unquestionably good things for seven-to-10-year-olds to be doing. What, though, can be said of the final and lasting product, ie the albums?
Peace is their 17th, and offers nothing in the way of musical innovation, but plenty in the way of fuel for cynics. Broadly, you might describe Peace as a hybrid of New Age and classical – the instrumentation is sparse and largely electronically manipulated, but takes its source material from a light classical and choral canon. Consequently, we hear recognisable and unchallenging melodies from the Adagio from Mozart's Clarinet Concerto (here delivered too fast and robbed of all maturity), an almost-obligatory John Rutter number and several traditional works, mostly arranged by Libera's mastermind, Robert Prizeman. As director, Prizeman's influence looms long over Libera. Because it is an ensemble made up of children, one suspects that any stylistic decisions come from either Prizeman or other, more industrial figures.
