Customer Reviews

The Story of Swan Lake

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

 

 

With two dancers in the house, we've had our fair share of exposure to the music for famous ballets like Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. The Dancer has played the parts of the duck and Peter in Peter and the Wolf, and we've owned several versions of it on video and audio, along with Carnival of the Animals and others. We've also used various resources over the years for music appreciation, including several story-type CDs that mix a story about the composer in with selections of his or her music. But I'd never heard of Maestro Classics until I was offered the opportunity to review their CD "The Story of Swan Lake".

The CD features music by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and includes the following tracks:

The Story of Swan Lake (music with narration)

Tchaikovsky's Life (a short biography of Tchaikovsky)

Speed Metal Swan (a modernized version of Swan Lake with electric guitar)

About The Music (background information on the music)

"Tchaikovsky Wrote a Great Ballet" (music from Swan Lake set to words)

Want to Have Some Fun? Prepare to Perform (teaching the children how to sing along for the next track)

"Tchaikovsky Wrote a Great Ballet" Sing-Along (an instrumental version of track 5 for singing along)

There's also a 24 page booklet included with fun facts about the composer, background information on the conductor, producer, narrator, and musicians, educational information on instruments, and fun activities like mazes and crossword puzzles. All four of my kids have really enjoyed listening to this! Of course, they each liked different aspects of it. Here are their thoughts:

The Dancer (13): She thought the story (the music with narration) was well-done and interesting and really enjoyed the second track, which is a short biography of Tchaikovsky, and the fourth track, "About the Music". Even though the music and storyline are familiar to her, she found it fascinating to learn the background information. She was indifferent about "Speed Metal Swan", and in her opinion, the last three tracks were a "little silly" and better suited to younger children. Overall, she really likes the CD and would like to hear more from Maestro Classics. She's very curious to hear their version of Peter and the Wolf.

Karate Kid (10): Although he's had plenty of exposure to classical music through what we've done at home and from doing musical routines in tae kwan do, he wasn't really familiar with the story of Swan Lake. He found the first track (music with narration) very interesting, and also enjoyed the biographical information. Not surprisingly, he got a big kick out of "Speed Metal Swan" and had a blast jumping around the living room to it with his younger siblings! He was mostly indifferent to the last three tracks, but overall, he enjoyed the CD.

Peanut (5): Peanut is also a budding dancer and was somewhat familiar with the music. She also has an idea of the storyline from her Barbie Swan Lake DVD. Along with her older siblings, she very much enjoyed track one, and had fun being silly to "Speed Metal Swan". She was indifferent to the biographical and background information, but unlike the older two, she found the last three tracks appealing. She especially liked "Tchaikovsky Wrote a Great Ballet".

Monkey Boy (2.5): The first time we played the CD, he had a great time dancing to just about the entire CD! He loves music. When I asked him what he thought, he replied, "I like it!". He especially seemed to enjoy "Speed Metal Swan" and "Tchaikovsky Wrote a Great Ballet".

Overall, we thought The Story of Swan Lake was very well done! The music and narration were both engaging and educational, and my older two found the booklet fun and beneficial. The suggested age range is 6-12, which I found to be very accurate. There's something to appeal to just about every age here, which is a big plus for families with several children who would like to be able to use one product with a fairly wide age range. They're also very affordable, at $16.98 for a CD or $9.98 for an MP3 download of each title.

The Maestro Classics website is fantastic, with all kinds of resources, including a kids club and free homeschool music curriculum for ALL their CDs! If you "like" their Facebook page, you'll have opportunities for coupons and giveaways, and you can also follow them on Twitter.

We'll definitely be looking into purchasing more Maestro Classics stories in the future!

Disclosure: I received a free CD for review purposes. I wasn't required to give a positive review and all opinions are my own.