Hi,
as mentioned in this article:
https://www.freertos.org/RTOS-Cortex-M3-M4.html
"...any interrupt service routine that uses an RTOS API function must have its priority manually set to a value that is numerically equal to or greater than the configMAX_SYSCALL_INTERRUPT_PRIORITY setting."
LPUART driver uses OSIF. If there's no freertos in your project, baremetal version of OSIF is used. Once you add freertos, freertos version of OSIF is used. So, the condition above should be met.
I guess that this could be the reason.
Regards,
Lukas