Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf; Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

Benjamin Britten (Composer), Sergey Prokofiev (Composer), Lorin Maazel (Conductor), L'Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Francaise (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: L'Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Francaise
• Conductor: Lorin Maazel
• Composer: Benjamin Britten, Sergey Prokofiev
• Audio CD (May 1, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001G70
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,204 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Peter and the Wolf, children's tale for narrator & orchestra, Op. 67: Introduction. Peter and the Wolf - a musical tale for children

2. Peter and the Wolf, children's tale for narrator & orchestra, Op. 67: Now to our story. Early one morning, Peter opened the gate . .

3. Peter and the Wolf, children's tale for narrator & orchestra, Op. 67: Suddenly, something caught Peter's attention

4. Peter and the Wolf, children's tale for narrator & orchestra, Op. 67: No sooner had Peter gone . . .

5. Peter and the Wolf, children's tale for narrator & orchestra, Op. 67: And now, this is how things stood

6. Peter and the Wolf, children's tale for narrator & orchestra, Op. 67: But now, . . . now the hunters came out of the woods

7. Peter and the Wolf, children's tale for narrator & orchestra, Op. 67: And now . . . now imagine the triumphant procession

8. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: Tuning up

9. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: It all st

10. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: All of th

11. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: It is tim

12. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: When two

13. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: Clarinets

14. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: Easily re

15. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: 30 of the

16. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: The alto

17. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: The violo

18. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: The doubl

19. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: Words plu

20. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34: The horn

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine performances, August 18, 2005

By 

S. Greer (Tallahassee, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf; Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Audio CD)

The narrator Alec Clunes does a fine job in Peter and the Wolf, and Maazel's ballet sensibility pays off. (In fact, you should find his recording of Romeo and Juliet if you can.) Maazel also does well as the narrator in Britten's piece, and I don't find the altered text (approved by Britten) inhibiting at all. There are also a few orchestral perks: the French National Orchestra was a fine opera orchestra, and it portrays the various characters and instruments well. A highlight is the great and rarely recorded flutist Fernand Dufrene, who uses his uncanny skill in tonal blend to play a fine bird (at least I think it's him - there are no solo attributions). The other soloists are fine and attentive. Other recordings I would recommend are Dorati with Connery narrating, and at least one of the modern-sound recordings just for reference. In this I tend to favor Abbado, who is the finest of today's Prokofiev conductors, with Sting, or Nagano with Loren/Clinton (yes, Bill)/Gorbachev (yes, Mikhail). The latter recording features a fine new composition which is a sequal to Peter and the Wolf.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good performance, antiquated recording, June 17, 2005

By 

Joshua J. Fenton "[e-mail]" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf; Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Audio CD)

My kids and I have much enjoyed this recording, but the narration is often too quiet and sounds a bit muffled. Moreover, the narrator speaks with a British accent, making comprehension a bit trickier for little ones. In general, I have missed the sound quality obtained in digital recordings, so I'm now shopping for a better recording of this wonderful piece of music.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Alternative to TV for a 2-year old, September 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf; Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Audio CD)

My father gave this to my son when he was a baby. We tried it at age 1, but it was too scary. My son is 2-1/2 and loves listening to this - it is very well narrated. The first day I took it out again, he listened to it 3 or 4 times. We don't usually do the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra piece, so I can't comment on that.