Customer Reviews

Prokofiev: Peter & the Wolf

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There are many, many recordings of this children's classic by different narrators and more than a few of them are very good to excellent. This is my emotional favorite. I say emotional, because there are other recordings with better sound and a crisper tempo. Personal preference as to narrator also plays into it. For me, however, there is no more thrilling, enjoyable recording than this one.

Boris Karloff expertly narrates this classic tale, with emotion and verve. This is one of two versions I grew up on as a child, the other narrated by the superb Basil Rathbone, also excellent. (I have that one as well) The Karloff recording is my reference standard, though, perhaps because of my childhood remembrance. The hair on the back of my neck still stands on end as the sinister horns describe the menacing wolf.

As it was for me, this is a delightful introduction to classical music for children. The Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev wrote this piece to tell the story of a young boy who tracks and traps a dangerous wolf, with the help of hunters and features a supporting cast of his grandfather, a bird, a duck, and a cat, all represented in the story by various musical instruments. The wolf, for example, is represented by horns, Peter by wind instruments, the cat by clarinet, etc. The story is narrated by Karloff and then given life by the musical instruments to represent the action. The story itself is entertaining and, at 25 minutes or so, easy to digest for children. That is not to say that I never find time to play it when I've had my fill of heavier fare...

Boris Karloff, for those of you unfamiliar with him, played Frankenstein (the monster, that is, not the doctor) in the 1931 classic, was the voice of the Grinch (original version), and appeared in dozens and dozens of movies. This adds a certain coolness factor to an already classic recording.

In the end, I can recommend this as a good choice among many excellent recordings. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Glad to see that this is back in print. As a little boy, I had the record (unfortunately misplaced) and played it until the grooves were worn. Boris Karloff's narration and the Vienna Orchestra sound spectacular on this CD, though. Hopefully my five year old will love this album as much as I did.

I love Boris Karloff, the voice is delicious, but his reading is rather uninspired, unimaginative and cautious-sounding, but not nearly so pedestrian as the conducting of Mario Rossi, who has at his disposal the highly capable Vienna State Opera orchestra (read, Vienna Philharmonic) who could play the pants off this piece even if left to their own devices, and not held back by the willful torpor of their baton-waiver. But alas, the performance simply drags along tediously, if such a thing is possible with this most delightful of musical stories. The Kije is merely a serviceable performance, too, of something that should effervesce. I regret not being more positive; the voice of Karloff should have been coupled with a more vital conductor. The recorded sound (from 1957) as typical of Seymour Solomon's audiophile work for Vanguard and other labels is superlative analog.

It seems like performances of Peter and the Wolf number in the thousands but this is the best by far. I enjoyed this for years on an LP but it got lost in a move. Great to see it back.

Our daughters grew up with this recording back in the 1970's -- I think we went through 3 vinyl copies. And now it's our granddaughters' favorite CD. The narration by Boris Karloff is fantastic, giving the kids a wonderful understanding of the music. Buy it.

My siblings and I recall pretending to be Peter or one of the other characters as we played the original record until well scratched beyond endurance for our mother. I found a copy while visiting the Russian Museum in Minnesota and my 5 yr old grandson spent his days doing the same character enactments. This CD is truly a treasure for developing music appreciation in our young children.

You just can't go wrong with Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf. Your kids will love you for it!
Excellent seller and very fast shipment! thank you!!!!

Time to teach the kids about music, and have fun too.
Boris Karloff does a fine job of narrating the story. He adds a dimension to everything he does

I recently bought this cd for my husband, we talked about getting this to share with our daughter. There were so many variations of the cd. I looked at the reviews and picked this one. This is the same recording that we both had listened to as children. We love it!!!

I bought this because I wanted it for my pre-school class. I remembered how much I enjoyed the Disney version as a kids and I am a fan of Boris Karloff"s narration skills. (IE. The Grinch that Stole Christmas) This is a great alternative to the (apparently unavailable) Disney version. However there is one minor difference ***SPOILER ALERT*** in this version the duck actually does get eaten by the wolf. This may not be the best choice for overly sensitive children. My kid and my class love it!