« … the coolest thing I’ve heard in a long time. » – Schmopera blog

About the CD:
In the summer of 2007 , investigators Mary Wiens and John Nicol brought an enthralled CBC Metro Morning audience the tale of a mummified baby found in the floorboards of an East Toronto home. Further investigation to uncover the origins of the child, now known as « Baby Kintyre, » revealed a cast of characters straight from a mystery novel: the glamourous vamp, the mysterious house guest, the prudish and suicidal wife, the adulterous husband and the simple little girl whose bedroom floor became the resting place of a horrible secret.

As an opera composer, one is not o ften given the opportunity to create a work employing a story that is in the process of unfolding. Yet, on a warm sunny day in October, 2007, Dean Burry was in attendance as the child known only as Baby Kintyre was laid to rest 82 years a fter his mysterious death.

Dean Burry was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland in 1972 but grew up in the town of Gander. In 1998, while working as an educator with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, he was commissioned to write The Brothers Grimm. The opera has been seen by over 150,000 children across Canada since 2001 and has been produced across North America and Europe. At well over 500 performances, The Brothers Grimm is believed to be the most performed Canadian opera ever.

Other major works include Under the Night, The Heart That Knows and Home and Away for Live Bait Theatre, Songs of the Island for the Charlottetown Festival, The Hobbit for the Canadian Children’s Opera Company and Sarasota Opera, Isis and the Seven Scorpions for the Canadian Opera Company, The Vinland Traveler and Le nez de la sorcière for Memorial University of Newfoundland, Pandora’s Locker for The Glenn Gould School, the CBC serial radio opera Baby Kintyre (subsequently nominated for a Prix Italia International Broadcast Award) and A Creature of Habit and Beacon of Light for Rising Tide Theatre. Burry was the 2011 recipient of the Louis Applebaum Composers Award for excellence in the field of music for young people.?

Tracklist

1. Episode 1: I Once Was Lost 7:58
2. Episode 2: How Sweet the Sound 7:33
3. Episode 3: A Wretch Like Me 7:06
4. Episode 4: Was Blind But Now I See 9:02
5. Episode 5: But Now Am Found 9:27

6. – 7. Documentary: CBC Radio Metro Morning, 19/09/2007 « Baby Kintyre – Parts 1 & 2 » 19:34
Mary Wiens and John Nicol

Cast
Jill – Laura Albino
George – Benjamin Covey
Bob – James McLennan
Aunt Della – Shannon Mercer
Rita – Eileen Nash
Alla Mae – Krisztina Szabó
Uncle Wesley – Giles Tomkins

PERFORMERS:

Aya Miyagawa, violin I
Bethany Bergman, violin II
Parmela Attariwalla, viola
Amber Ghent, cello
Peter Pavlovsky, bass
Salom Bard, clarinet (Episode 1)
Peter Stoll, clarinet/saxophone (Episodes 2-5)
John Hess, piano

The production of this album was graciously supported by FACTOR. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters.

REVIEWS:

« Burry knows how to tell a good story with music […} His colorful characters interact realistically, and although the denouement may be predictable, the scenes are consistently interesting […] One certainly feels that one is getting the entire experience from this recording, sound effects and all, since the opera was written to be heard and not seen […] This was an experiment that is well worth repeating. » – Joshua Rosenblum, Opera News Recordings

« I think the most appealing thing about this recording is that it’s an organic piece of art. Listening to recordings of operas is often like reading a play; it’s not quite what you’re after. But in the case of Baby Kintyre, the genre lends itself beautifully to a recording; it’s a complete piece of art that the listener really can take with them. The episodes are musically autonomous, but they all lead ominously into the next (often with a telling thunk from the piano); there’s a larger musical continuity that remains familiar throughout the whole opera. I think it’s my favourite piece of Dean Burry’s, and this recording by Centrediscs is an important addition to the Canadian Music Centre‘s canon. » – Schmopera blog

« I was struck by the wit of Burry’s libretto, the many moments when I was laughing out loud. […] Burry has created a tour de force, precisely because it defies our expectations. » – Barcza Blog

This recording generously supported by:




We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters.