Below is a review of the premiere clarinet version recording of I Never Saw Another Butterfly, released on Naxos’ Brundibar CD.
The program also includes six poems, by child prisoners murdered in the Holocaust, set to music by the America composer Lori Laitman (b.1955), who is known for her art songs. These are scored for soprano and clarinet and are performed beautifully here by soprano Maureen McKay and clarinetist Laura DeLuca. The poems show that the children were well aware of their surroundings and perhaps their fate; and the songs have a haunting quality that stays with the listener.