Customer Reviews

Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf; Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra; Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals (RCA Victor Basic 100, Volume 43)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD is one of my family's favorites. From the soothing voice of David Bowie (yes, THAT David Bowie!) unfolds the delightful story of Peter and his menagerie of animal friends and foes. The orchestration is simply beautiful, the reading expressive and vibrant, and the story a classic. I would highly recommend this CD - as it also includes two other pieces that will delight music lovers of all ages.

We took our children to the Santa Cruz Symphony's production of Peter and the Wolf. Since the concert, they have been very interested in this classical music collection and listen to it regularly. We purchased this CD and the book "Peter and The Wolf" by Vagin Vladimir (fabulous illustrations). Together, they're a charming gift that any child will love and it could very well be their introduction to classical music for a lifetime.

The version of Eugene Ormandy conducting The Philadelphia Orchestra has most youthful and imaginary reading of Peter and Wolf. The color and the flare of the story is vividly drawn out. The orchestral sound are warm, delight and dynamic. Thanks RCA for reserving this musical artistry and rematster it.

I love "Peter and the Wolf" and am far from being a child and so I was looking for a recording that would cater to adults. I found it in this one. On the plus side you can skip the introduction to the orchestral instruments, which most adults who know this piece don't need. The playing of the Philadelphia Orchestra is lush and sounds like the players are really enjoying themselves and dedicated to nuances of the music. Ormandy's tempos are spot-on and he has gotten his players to keep the piece moving along lightly, even during the more dramatic moments and his direction really pushes (for lack of a better word) the orchestra to really convey the story, working with the narrator rather than leaving him/her with a musical interpretation that doesn't match the narrator's style of telling the story. David Bowie provides a great narration and sounds as though he has really prepared himself by studying the story and so his story-telling is never sing-song and cloying, but interesting, catching your ear with subtle variations in his pacing and knowledge of how the words and music ultimately support each other emotionally. He is not cloying or "dumbing-down" in his narration and really surprised me with his abilities. The CD is well-engineered and never "muddy" sounding. You hear each part clearly and without voice overpowering the orchestra or vice-versa. A great interpretation. "Carnival of the Animals" is missing its narration and that' okay bcause the playing is expressive enough that you can imagine each animal. On the downside (boy this is getting long) is "The Young Perrson's Guide to the Orchestra. Boring! Well-played but it all sounds the same even though each orchestra section being described should have a distinct variation on the central theme, which it dosn't. I never have liked it, though so I'm biaed here. It is executed as well as it can be. This is a good investment for kids and adults.

David Bowie's voice is wonderful in this beautiful recording of Peter and the Wolf. the orchestra is rich and full and alive.

This is a fantastic disc! Peter and the Wolf sounds whimsical, fun, and great as narrated by David Bowie. Bowie proves to be the best narrator yet for Peter and the Wolf! Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra sounds excellent as performed by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra! To wrap up the disc we have a stellar performance of Saint Saens Carnival of the Animals by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra. This disc is geared toward young people to get them interested in Classical music, but it's for all ages! This is a highly recommended disc!

I bought this CD for my almost four year old and he thinks it's great. He is able to recognise the different melodies and instruments as the characters in the story (i.e. "that's the grandfather"). He's not so into the other music afterwards, as it doesn't have a story that goes with it - he wants more of Peter and the Wolf. I thought it was mildly disturbing that the story ends with the duck alive inside the wolf, but my little man just accepted this was the end of the story.

The Peter and the Wolf part of this CD is great. Bowie is perfect! And of course, the orchestra is spot on. The Britten section frankly, sucks. It's just fragmented with no narration. Waste of space.

I bought this for my 3 y/o grandson hoping to help him learn about the orchestra. It turns out we are both learning and enjoying it equally.

purchased this cd for my grand children. I will play it for them on my next visit with them. I listened to it and it was very good.