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==Recordings==
==Recordings==
===2000's===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! Date
Line 43: Line 44:
! Label
! Label
! class="unsortable"|Notes
! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
| 2012
| [[Bramwell Tovey]]
| [[Vancouver Symphony Orchestra]]
| Bramwell Tovey
|
| {{YouTube|MfM7Y9Pcdzw}}
|-
| 2008
| Yadu (aka Dr. Konrad Czynski)
| [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]]
| Stephen Simon
| [http://www.maestroclassics.com/ Maestro Classics]
| Bonnie Ward Simon, elucidator, with additional tracks including Russian folk music with the Trio Voronezh, Prokofiev's life, and a music lesson by Maestro Simon. Part of Stories in Music series
|-
| 2001
| [[Sharon Stone]]
| [[Orchestra of St. Luke's]]
| [[James Levine]]
| [[Deutsche Grammophon]]
| as part of ''A Classic Tale: Music for Our Children'' (289 471 171–2, 2001)
|-
|-
| 2000
| 2000
Line 52: Line 74:
|
|
|-
|-
|}
| 1971

| [[Richard Baker (broadcaster)|Richard Baker]]
===1990's===
| [[Philharmonia Orchestra|New Philharmonia Orchestra]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
| [[Raymond Leppard]]
! Date
| [[EMI]]
! Narrator
|
! Orchestra
! Conductor
! Label
! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
|-
| 1960
| 1997
| [[Leonard Bernstein]]
| [[Anthony Dowell]]
| [[New York Philharmonic]]
| [[Leonard Bernstein]]
| [[Columbia Records]]
| The popularity of the group's televised [[Young People's Concerts]] made this an auspicious release
|-
| 1975
| [[David Bowie]]
| [[Philadelphia Orchestra]]
| [[Eugene Ormandy]]
| [[RCA Records|RCA Victor]]
|
|
| [[Ross MacGibbon]], director (video)
|-
| 1984
| [[William F. Buckley, Jr.]]
| Orchestra of Radio/TV Luxembourg
| [[Leopold Hager]]
| Proarte Digital Records
|-
| 1960
| [[Captain Kangaroo]]
| [[New York Philharmonic|Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York]]
| [[Leopold Stokowski]]
| [[Everest Records]] SDBR-3043
|
|-
| 1979
| [[Carol Channing]]
| [[Cincinnati Pops Orchestra]]
| [[Erich Kunzel]]
| [[Caedmon Audio|Caedmon Records]] TC-1623
|
|-
| 1965
| [[Sean Connery]]
| [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]]
| [[Antal Doráti]]
| Decca Phase 4
|
|
| Film of a ballet performance, starring David Johnson, [[Layla Harrison]], [[Karan Lingham]]<ref name=IMDb0380625>{{IMDb title|0380625|Peter and the Wolf|(TV 1997)}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 1997
| 1997
Line 107: Line 99:
|
|
|-
|-
| 1973
| 1996
| [[Mia Farrow]]
| Sir [[John Gielgud]]
| [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]]
| [[Andrea Licata]]
| Intersound Recordings
|
|-
| 1996
| [[Ben Kingsley]]
| [[London Symphony Orchestra]]
| [[London Symphony Orchestra]]
| [[André Previn]]
| Sir [[Charles Mackerras]]
| Cala Records
| [[EMI]] ASD 2935
|
|
|-
|-
| 1959
| 1994
| [[José Ferrer]]
| [[Melissa Joan Hart]]
| [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]]
| [[Vienna State Opera]] Orchestra
| [[Seiji Ozawa]]
| [[Eugene Aynsley Goossens|Sir Eugene Goossens]]
| [[Sony Masterworks|Sony Classical]]
| [[Kapp Records]]
| Hart was in her "Clarissa" persona from the [[Nickelodeon]] television series ''[[Clarissa Explains It All]]''
| Narrated in Spanish and English
|-
|-
| 1959
| 1994
| [[Michael Flanders]]
| [[Patrick Stewart]]
| Orchestra of the [[Opéra National de Lyon]]
| [[Philharmonia Orchestra]]
| [[Efrem Kurtz]]
| [[Kent Nagano]]
| [[EMI Records]]
| [[Erato Records|Erato]]
|
|
|-
|-
| 1974
| 1994
| [[Will Geer]]
| [[Sting (musician)|Sting]]
| [[English Chamber Orchestra]]
| [[Chamber Orchestra of Europe]]
| [[Johannes Somary]]
| [[Claudio Abbado]]
| [[Deutsche Grammophon]]
| [[Vanguard Records]] VSO-30033
| This was used as the soundtrack to the television special ''Peter and the Wolf: A Prokofiev Fantasy''
|
|-
| 1991
| Oleg and Gabriel Prokofiev
| [[New London Orchestra]]
| [[Ronald Corp]]
| Hyperion Records
| The narrators were the son and grandson of the composer
|-
|}

===1980's===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! Narrator
! Orchestra
! Conductor
! Label
! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
|-
| 1989
| 1989
Line 142: Line 159:
| Sir John's royalties for this recording were donated to The League of Friends of Charity Heritage, a facility for children handicapped physically
| Sir John's royalties for this recording were donated to The League of Friends of Charity Heritage, a facility for children handicapped physically
|-
|-
| 1996
| 1989
| Sir [[John Gielgud]]
| [[Christopher Lee]]
| [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]]
| English String Orchestra
| [[Andrea Licata]]
| Sir [[Yehudi Menuhin]]
| [[Nimbus Records]]
| Intersound Recordings
|
|
|-
|-
| 1997
| 1989
| [[Anthony Dowell]]
| [[Peter Ustinov]]
| [[Philharmonia Orchestra]]
| Philip Ellis
| Cirrus Classics CBS CD 105
|
|
| [[Ross MacGibbon]], director (video)
|
| Film of a ballet performance, starring David Johnson, [[Layla Harrison]], [[Karan Lingham]]<ref name=IMDb0380625>{{IMDb title|0380625|Peter and the Wolf|(TV 1997)}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 1975
| 1989
| [[Hermione Gingold]]
| [[Jonathan&nbsp;Winters]]
| [[Philharmonia Orchestra]]
| [[Vienna Philharmonic]] Orchestra
| [[Karl Böhm]]
| [[Efrem Kurtz]]
| Angel/EMI
| [[Deutsche&nbsp;Grammophon]]
| Winters also narrated the Saint-Saëns/[[Ogden Nash]] [[The Carnival of the Animals]]
|
|-
| 1955
| [[Arthur Godfrey]]
| Andre Kostelanetz's Orchestra
| [[Andre Kostelanetz]]
| [[Columbia Records]]
| mono recording; has never been issued on CD
|-
| 1965
| [[Lorne Greene]]
| [[London Symphony Orchestra]]
| Sir [[Malcolm Sargent]]
| [[RCA]]
|
|-
|-
| 1988
| 1988
Line 183: Line 186:
| [[Bertelsmann Music Group|BMG]]
| [[Bertelsmann Music Group|BMG]]
|
|
|-
| 1939
| [[Richard Hale]]
| [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]]
| [[Serge&nbsp;Koussevitzky]]
| [[RCA Records|RCA Victor]]
| The first American version, issued in an album of three [[78 rpm record|78 rpm discs]]
|-
|-
| 1953
| [[Richard Hale]]
| [[Boston Pops Orchestra]]
| [[Arthur Fiedler]]
| [[RCA Records|RCA Victor]]
|
|-
| 1994
| [[Melissa Joan Hart]]
| [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]]
| [[Seiji Ozawa]]
| [[Sony Masterworks|Sony Classical]]
| Hart was in her "Clarissa" persona from the [[Nickelodeon]] television series ''[[Clarissa Explains It All]]''
|-
|-
| 1987
| 1987
Line 213: Line 194:
| It retained the traditional plot but transferred the locale to the Australian Outback. This recording was withdrawn soon after its release because of unflattering portrayals of Australia's [[Australian Aborigines|aboriginal]] people and is now considered "out of print".
| It retained the traditional plot but transferred the locale to the Australian Outback. This recording was withdrawn soon after its release because of unflattering portrayals of Australia's [[Australian Aborigines|aboriginal]] people and is now considered "out of print".
|-
|-
| 1946
| 1987
| Lina Prokofiev (Sergei Prokofiev's widow)
| [[Sterling Holloway]]
| [[Royal Scottish National Orchestra]]
| [[Neeme Järvi]]
| [[Chandos Records]]
|
|
|
| [[Walt Disney|Disney]]
| originally made for the 1946 film ''[[Make Mine Music]]''
|-
|-
| 1957
| 1986
| [[Boris Karloff]]
| [[Itzhak Perlman]]
| [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]]
| [[Vienna State Opera]] Orchestra
| [[Mario Rossi]]
| [[Zubin Mehta]]
| [[Vanguard Records]]
| [[EMI]]
|
|
|-
|-
| 1996
| 1984
[[William F. Buckley, Jr.]]
| [[Ben Kingsley]]
| Orchestra of Radio/TV Luxembourg
| [[London Symphony Orchestra]]
| Sir [[Charles Mackerras]]
| [[Leopold Hager]]
| Cala Records
| Proarte Digital Records
|
|-
| 1989
| [[Christopher Lee]]
| English String Orchestra
| Sir [[Yehudi Menuhin]]
| [[Nimbus Records]]
|
|-
| 1960
| [[Beatrice Lillie]]
| [[London Symphony Orchestra]]
| [[Skitch Henderson]]
| [[Decca Records]]
|
|-
|-
| 1984
| 1984
Line 255: Line 221:
| The American release (412 559–2) was narrated by Dudley Moore, while the UK release (412 556–2) featured Terry Wogan as narrator
| The American release (412 559–2) was narrated by Dudley Moore, while the UK release (412 556–2) featured Terry Wogan as narrator
|-
|-
| 1960s
| 1980
| [[Garry Moore]]
| [[Tom Seaver]]
| Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of London
| [[Cincinnati Pops Orchestra]]
| [[Artur Rodziński]]
| [[Erich Kunzel]]
| [[Mosley Music Group|MMG]]
| Whitehall WHS20040.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20091114021039/http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/June%201961/31/734368/ Review] by T.H., ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'', June 1961, p. 31</ref>
|
| The reverse side of this 12-inch LP record also features ''[[The Carnival of the Animals]]'' by [[Camille Saint-Saëns|Saint-Saëns]] with Garry Moore (narrator), Josef and Grete Dichler (duopianists) and the [[Vienna State Opera]] Orchestra conducted by [[Hermann Scherchen]].
|-
|-
|}
| 1986

| [[Itzhak Perlman]]
===1970's===
| [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
| [[Zubin Mehta]]
! Date
| [[EMI]]
! Narrator
! Orchestra
! Conductor
! Label
! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
| 1979
| [[Carol Channing]]
| [[Cincinnati Pops Orchestra]]
| [[Erich Kunzel]]
| [[Caedmon Audio|Caedmon Records]] TC-1623
|
|
|-
|-
| 1991
| 1977
| [[Cyril Ritchard]]
| Oleg and Gabriel Prokofiev
| [[New London Orchestra]]
| [[Philadelphia Orchestra]]
| [[Ronald Corp]]
| [[Eugene Ormandy]]
| Hyperion Records
| [[Columbia Records]] ML 5183
|
| The narrators were the son and grandson of the composer
|-
| 1975
| [[David Bowie]]
| [[Philadelphia Orchestra]]
| [[Eugene Ormandy]]
| [[RCA Records|RCA Victor]]
|
|-
| 1975
| [[Hermione Gingold]]
| [[Vienna Philharmonic]] Orchestra
| [[Karl Böhm]]
| [[Deutsche&nbsp;Grammophon]]
|
|-
| 1974
| [[Will Geer]]
| [[English Chamber Orchestra]]
| [[Johannes Somary]]
| [[Vanguard Records]] VSO-30033
|
|-
| 1973
| [[Mia Farrow]]
| [[London Symphony Orchestra]]
| [[André Previn]]
| [[EMI]] ASD 2935
|
|-
|-
| 1972
| 1972
Line 283: Line 288:
| In this version, the story is reformulated as a gangster tale in the style of the Hollywood films that Raft had once acted in.
| In this version, the story is reformulated as a gangster tale in the style of the Hollywood films that Raft had once acted in.
|-
|-
| 1941
| 1971
| [[Richard Baker (broadcaster)|Richard Baker]]
| [[Basil Rathbone]]
| [[All-American Orchestra]]
| [[Philharmonia Orchestra|New Philharmonia Orchestra]]
| [[Leopold Stokowski]]
| [[Raymond Leppard]]
| [[EMI]]
|
|
| restored by Bob Varney<ref>[http://www.archive.org/details/PeterAndTheWolf_753 audio files]</ref>
|-
|-
| 1970
| 1970
Line 297: Line 302:
| Volume 5 of ''The World of the Great Classics'' series. This version is praised in various editions of ''[[The Stereo Record Guide]]'' as the finest recording and narration of the work ever made.
| Volume 5 of ''The World of the Great Classics'' series. This version is praised in various editions of ''[[The Stereo Record Guide]]'' as the finest recording and narration of the work ever made.
|-
|-
|}
| 1977

| [[Cyril Ritchard]]
===1960's===
| [[Philadelphia Orchestra]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
| [[Eugene Ormandy]]
! Date
| [[Columbia Records]] ML 5183
! Narrator
! Orchestra
! Conductor
! Label
! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
| 1965
| [[Sean Connery]]
| [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]]
| [[Antal Doráti]]
| Decca Phase 4
|
|
|-
|-
| 1980
| 1965
| [[Tom Seaver]]
| [[Lorne Greene]]
| [[Cincinnati Pops Orchestra]]
| [[London Symphony Orchestra]]
| [[Erich Kunzel]]
| Sir [[Malcolm Sargent]]
| [[Mosley Music Group|MMG]]
| [[RCA]]
|
|
|-
|-
| 1994
| 1960s
| [[Patrick Stewart]]
| [[Garry Moore]]
| Orchestra of the [[Opéra National de Lyon]]
| Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of London
| [[Kent Nagano]]
| [[Artur Rodziński]]
| Whitehall WHS20040.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20091114021039/http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/June%201961/31/734368/ Review] by T.H., ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'', June 1961, p. 31</ref>
| [[Erato Records|Erato]]
| The reverse side of this 12-inch LP record also features ''[[The Carnival of the Animals]]'' by [[Camille Saint-Saëns|Saint-Saëns]] with Garry Moore (narrator), Josef and Grete Dichler (duopianists), and the [[Vienna State Opera]] Orchestra conducted by [[Hermann Scherchen]].
|-
| 1960
| [[Leonard Bernstein]]
| [[New York Philharmonic]]
| [[Leonard Bernstein]]
| [[Columbia Records]]
| The popularity of the group's televised [[Young People's Concerts]] made this an auspicious release
|-
| 1960
| [[Captain Kangaroo]]
| [[New York Philharmonic|Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York]]
| [[Leopold Stokowski]]
| [[Everest Records]] SDBR-3043
|
|
|-
|-
| 1994
| 1960
| [[Sting (musician)|Sting]]
| [[Beatrice Lillie]]
| [[Chamber Orchestra of Europe]]
| [[London Symphony Orchestra]]
| [[Claudio Abbado]]
| [[Skitch Henderson]]
| [[Deutsche Grammophon]]
| [[Decca Records]]
|
| This was used as the soundtrack to the television special ''Peter and the Wolf: A Prokofiev Fantasy''
|-
|-
|}
| 2001

| [[Sharon Stone]]
===1950's===
| [[Orchestra of St. Luke's]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
| [[James Levine]]
! Date
| [[Deutsche Grammophon]]
! Narrator
| as part of ''A Classic Tale: Music for Our Children'' (289 471 171–2, 2001)
! Orchestra
! Conductor
! Label
! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
|-
| 2012
| 1959
| [[Bramwell Tovey]]
| [[José Ferrer]]
| [[Vienna State Opera]] Orchestra
| [[Vancouver Symphony Orchestra]]
| [[Eugene Aynsley Goossens|Sir Eugene Goossens]]
| Bramwell Tovey
| [[Kapp Records]]
| Narrated in Spanish and English
|-
| 1959
| [[Michael Flanders]]
| [[Philharmonia Orchestra]]
| [[Efrem Kurtz]]
| [[EMI Records]]
|
|-
| 1957
| [[Boris Karloff]]
| [[Vienna State Opera]] Orchestra
| [[Mario Rossi]]
| [[Vanguard Records]]
|
|
| {{YouTube|MfM7Y9Pcdzw}}
|-
|-
| 1956
| 1956
Line 346: Line 394:
|
|
|-
|-
| 1989
| 1955
| [[Peter Ustinov]]
| [[Arthur Godfrey]]
| [[Philharmonia Orchestra]]
| Andre Kostelanetz's Orchestra
| [[Andre Kostelanetz]]
| Philip Ellis
| [[Columbia Records]]
| Cirrus Classics CBS CD 105
| mono recording; has never been issued on CD
|-
| 1953
| [[Richard Hale]]
| [[Boston Pops Orchestra]]
| [[Arthur Fiedler]]
| [[RCA Records|RCA Victor]]
|
|
|-
|-
|}
| 1989

| [[Jonathan&nbsp;Winters]]
===1940's===
| [[Philharmonia Orchestra]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
| [[Efrem Kurtz]]
! Date
| Angel/EMI
! Narrator
| Winters also narrated the Saint-Saëns/[[Ogden Nash]] [[The Carnival of the Animals]]
! Orchestra
! Conductor
! Label
! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
|-
| 2008
| 1946
| [[Sterling Holloway]]
| Yadu (aka Dr. Konrad Czynski)
|
| [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]]
|
| Stephen Simon
| [[Walt Disney|Disney]]
| [http://www.maestroclassics.com/ Maestro Classics]
| originally made for the 1946 film ''[[Make Mine Music]]''
| Bonnie Ward Simon, elucidator, with additional tracks including Russian folk music with the Trio Voronezh, Prokofiev's life, and a music lesson by Maestro Simon. Part of Stories in Music series
|-
|-
| 1987
| 1941
| [[Basil Rathbone]]
| Lina Prokofiev (Sergei Prokofiev's widow)
| [[Royal Scottish National Orchestra]]
| [[All-American Orchestra]]
| [[Neeme Järvi]]
| [[Leopold Stokowski]]
| [[Chandos Records]]
|
|
| restored by Bob Varney<ref>[http://www.archive.org/details/PeterAndTheWolf_753 audio files]</ref>
|-
|}

===1930's===
|-
| 1939
| [[Richard Hale]]
| [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]]
| [[Serge&nbsp;Koussevitzky]]
| [[RCA Records|RCA Victor]]
| The first American version, issued in an album of three [[78 rpm record|78 rpm discs]]
|-
|}
|}



Revision as of 05:57, 1 June 2014

File:PeterandtheWolfColoringBook.png
1947 coloring book cover

Peter and the Wolf (Russian: Петя и волк, Petya i volk), Op. 67, is a composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 in the USSR. It is a children's story (with both music and text by Prokofiev), spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra.

History

In 1936, Sergei Prokofiev was commissioned by Natalya Sats and the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow to write a new musical symphony for children. The intent was to cultivate "musical tastes in children from the first years of school".[1] Intrigued by the invitation, Prokofiev completed Peter and the Wolf in just four days.[2] The debut on 2 May 1936 was, in the composer's words, inauspicious at best: "...[attendance] was poor and failed to attract much attention".[3]

Instrumentation

Peter and the Wolf is scored for the following orchestra:

Each character in the story has a particular instrument and a musical theme:

The duration of the work is approximately 25 minutes.

Plot

Peter, a Young Pioneer,[4][5] lives at his grandfather's home in a forest clearing. One day, Peter goes out into the clearing, leaving the garden gate open, and the duck that lives in the yard takes the opportunity to go swimming in a pond nearby. The duck starts arguing with a little bird ("What kind of bird are you if you can't fly?" – "What kind of bird are you if you can't swim?"). Peter's pet cat stalks them quietly, and the bird—warned by Peter—flies to safety in a tall tree while the duck swims to safety in the middle of the pond.

Peter's grandfather scolds Peter for being outside in the meadow alone ("Suppose a wolf came out of the forest?"), and, when Peter defies him, saying: "Boys like me are not afraid of wolves", his grandfather takes him back into the house and locks the gate. Soon afterwards "a big, grey wolf" does indeed come out of the forest. The cat quickly climbs into a tree, but the duck, who has excitedly jumped out of the pond, is chased, overtaken, and swallowed by the wolf.

Peter fetches a rope and climbs over the garden wall into the tree. He asks the bird to fly around the wolf's head to distract it, while he lowers a noose and catches the wolf by its tail. The wolf struggles to get free, but Peter ties the rope to the tree and the noose only gets tighter.

Some hunters, who have been tracking the wolf, come out of the forest ready to shoot, but Peter gets them to help him take the wolf to a zoo in a victory parade (the piece was first performed for an audience of Young Pioneers during May Day celebrations) that includes himself, the bird, the hunters leading the wolf, the cat, and grumpy grumbling Grandfather ("What if Peter hadn't caught the wolf? What then?")

In the story's ending, the listener is told: "If you listen very carefully, you'll hear the duck quacking inside the wolf's belly, because the wolf in his hurry had swallowed her alive."

Recordings

2000's

Date Narrator Orchestra Conductor Label Notes
2012 Bramwell Tovey Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Bramwell Tovey Video on YouTube
2008 Yadu (aka Dr. Konrad Czynski) London Philharmonic Orchestra Stephen Simon Maestro Classics Bonnie Ward Simon, elucidator, with additional tracks including Russian folk music with the Trio Voronezh, Prokofiev's life, and a music lesson by Maestro Simon. Part of Stories in Music series
2001 Sharon Stone Orchestra of St. Luke's James Levine Deutsche Grammophon as part of A Classic Tale: Music for Our Children (289 471 171–2, 2001)
2000 David Attenborough for BBC Music Magazine; a free CD came with the June 2000 issue

1990's

Date Narrator Orchestra Conductor Label Notes
1997 Anthony Dowell Ross MacGibbon, director (video) Film of a ballet performance, starring David Johnson, Layla Harrison, Karan Lingham[6]
1997 Dame Edna Everage Melbourne Symphony Orchestra John Lanchbery Naxos Records
1996 Sir John Gielgud Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Andrea Licata Intersound Recordings
1996 Ben Kingsley London Symphony Orchestra Sir Charles Mackerras Cala Records
1994 Melissa Joan Hart Boston Symphony Orchestra Seiji Ozawa Sony Classical Hart was in her "Clarissa" persona from the Nickelodeon television series Clarissa Explains It All
1994 Patrick Stewart Orchestra of the Opéra National de Lyon Kent Nagano Erato
1994 Sting Chamber Orchestra of Europe Claudio Abbado Deutsche Grammophon This was used as the soundtrack to the television special Peter and the Wolf: A Prokofiev Fantasy
1991 Oleg and Gabriel Prokofiev New London Orchestra Ronald Corp Hyperion Records The narrators were the son and grandson of the composer

1980's

Date Narrator Orchestra Conductor Label Notes
1989 Sir John Gielgud Orchestra of the Academy of London Richard Stamp Virgin Classics Sir John's royalties for this recording were donated to The League of Friends of Charity Heritage, a facility for children handicapped physically
1989 Christopher Lee English String Orchestra Sir Yehudi Menuhin Nimbus Records
1989 Peter Ustinov Philharmonia Orchestra Philip Ellis Cirrus Classics CBS CD 105
1989 Jonathan Winters Philharmonia Orchestra Efrem Kurtz Angel/EMI Winters also narrated the Saint-Saëns/Ogden Nash The Carnival of the Animals
1988 Sir Alec Guinness Boston Pops Orchestra Arthur Fiedler BMG
1987 Paul Hogan Orchestre de Paris Igor Markevitch EMI It retained the traditional plot but transferred the locale to the Australian Outback. This recording was withdrawn soon after its release because of unflattering portrayals of Australia's aboriginal people and is now considered "out of print".
1987 Lina Prokofiev (Sergei Prokofiev's widow) Royal Scottish National Orchestra Neeme Järvi Chandos Records
1986 Itzhak Perlman Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Zubin Mehta EMI
1984
William F. Buckley, Jr.
Orchestra of Radio/TV Luxembourg Leopold Hager Proarte Digital Records
1984 Dudley Moore / Terry Wogan Boston Pops Orchestra John Williams Philips The American release (412 559–2) was narrated by Dudley Moore, while the UK release (412 556–2) featured Terry Wogan as narrator
1980 Tom Seaver Cincinnati Pops Orchestra Erich Kunzel MMG

1970's

Date Narrator Orchestra Conductor Label Notes
1979 Carol Channing Cincinnati Pops Orchestra Erich Kunzel Caedmon Records TC-1623
1977 Cyril Ritchard Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy Columbia Records ML 5183
1975 David Bowie Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy RCA Victor
1975 Hermione Gingold Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Karl Böhm Deutsche Grammophon
1974 Will Geer English Chamber Orchestra Johannes Somary Vanguard Records VSO-30033
1973 Mia Farrow London Symphony Orchestra André Previn EMI ASD 2935
1972 George Raft London Festival Orchestra Stanley Black London SPC-21084 In this version, the story is reformulated as a gangster tale in the style of the Hollywood films that Raft had once acted in.
1971 Richard Baker New Philharmonia Orchestra Raymond Leppard EMI
1970 Sir Ralph Richardson London Symphony Orchestra Sir Malcolm Sargent Decca Records Volume 5 of The World of the Great Classics series. This version is praised in various editions of The Stereo Record Guide as the finest recording and narration of the work ever made.

1960's

Date Narrator Orchestra Conductor Label Notes
1965 Sean Connery Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Antal Doráti Decca Phase 4
1965 Lorne Greene London Symphony Orchestra Sir Malcolm Sargent RCA
1960s Garry Moore Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of London Artur Rodziński Whitehall WHS20040.[7] The reverse side of this 12-inch LP record also features The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns with Garry Moore (narrator), Josef and Grete Dichler (duopianists), and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra conducted by Hermann Scherchen.
1960 Leonard Bernstein New York Philharmonic Leonard Bernstein Columbia Records The popularity of the group's televised Young People's Concerts made this an auspicious release
1960 Captain Kangaroo Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York Leopold Stokowski Everest Records SDBR-3043
1960 Beatrice Lillie London Symphony Orchestra Skitch Henderson Decca Records

1950's

Date Narrator Orchestra Conductor Label Notes
1959 José Ferrer Vienna State Opera Orchestra Sir Eugene Goossens Kapp Records Narrated in Spanish and English
1959 Michael Flanders Philharmonia Orchestra Efrem Kurtz EMI Records
1957 Boris Karloff Vienna State Opera Orchestra Mario Rossi Vanguard Records
1956 Peter Ustinov Philharmonia Orchestra Herbert von Karajan Angel Records
1955 Arthur Godfrey Andre Kostelanetz's Orchestra Andre Kostelanetz Columbia Records mono recording; has never been issued on CD
1953 Richard Hale Boston Pops Orchestra Arthur Fiedler RCA Victor

1940's

Date Narrator Orchestra Conductor Label Notes
1946 Sterling Holloway Disney originally made for the 1946 film Make Mine Music
1941 Basil Rathbone All-American Orchestra Leopold Stokowski restored by Bob Varney[8]

1930's

|- | 1939 | Richard Hale | Boston Symphony Orchestra | Serge Koussevitzky | RCA Victor | The first American version, issued in an album of three 78 rpm discs |- |}

Adaptations of the work

Walt Disney, 1946

Disney's 1946 animated short.

Walt Disney produced an animated version of the work in 1946, with Sterling Holloway providing the voice of the narrator. It was released theatrically as a segment of Make Mine Music, then re-issued the next year, accompanying a re-issue of Fantasia (as a short subject before the film), then separately on home video in the 1990s.[9] This version makes several changes to the original story, for example:

  • During the character introduction, the pets are given names: "Sasha" the bird, "Sonia" the duck, and "Ivan" the cat.
  • As the cartoon begins, Peter and his friends already know there is a wolf nearby, and are preparing to catch him.
  • The hunters get names in a later part of the story: "Misha", "Yasha" and "Vladimir".
  • Peter day-dreams of hunting and catching the wolf and exits the garden carrying a wooden "pop gun" rifle with the purpose of hunting the wolf.
  • At the end, in a reversal of the original (and to make the story more child-friendly), the narrator reveals that the duck Sonia has not been eaten by the wolf. Earlier in the film, the wolf is shown chasing the duck, who hides in an old tree's hollow trunk. The wolf attacks out of view, and returns in view with some of the duck's feathers in his mouth and licking his jaws. Peter, the cat, and the bird assume the duck has been eaten. After the wolf has been caught, the bird Sasha is shown mourning the duck. The duck comes out of the tree trunk at that point and they are happily reunited.

In Belle's Tales of Friendship, The Disney version of Peter and the Wolf is featured and narrated by Belle instead of Sterling Holloway.

This version of Peter and the Wolf was featured in Disney's House of Mouse, and characters from it appeared in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and an audio recording of this version with expanded narration by Sterling Holloway was released on Disneyland Records (DQ-1242). In 1957, for one of his television programs, Disney recalled how Prokofiev himself visited the Disney studio, eventually inspiring the making of this animated version. Disney used pianist Ingolf Dahl, who resembled Prokofiev, to re-create how the composer sat at a piano and played the themes from the score.[10][11]

Russia, 1958

The Russian animation studio Soyuzmultfilm produced a version of the work in 1958. It is puppet stop motion animation, directed by Anatoly Karanovich and narrated by I. Medvedyeva. This version makes the following changes to the story:

  • In the beginning the bird sees the wolf in the forest and warns Peter's grandfather, who goes to get the hunters and tells Peter not to leave the fenced-in yard.
  • The cat, after failing to catch the bird and duck, goes to the forest to solicit the help of the wolf.
  • Peter picks up the duck and runs to safety, leaving the cat outside with the wolf.
  • The wolf, not being very particular, eats the cat.

This version has not been published much outside of the ex-USSR.

British–Polish co-production, 2006

In 2006, Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman directed and produced respectively, a stop-motion animated adaptation, Peter and the Wolf. It is unusual in its lack of any dialogue or narration, the story being told only in images and sound and interrupted by sustained periods of silence. The soundtrack is performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the film received its premiere with a live accompaniment in the Royal Albert Hall.[12] The film won the Annecy Cristal and the Audience Award at the 2007 Annecy International Animated Film Festival,[13] and won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.[14] This version makes some changes to the original Prokofiev story; for example:

  • Peter bumps into one of the "hunters" (teenage bullies in this telling) who throws him in a rubbish bin and aims at him with his rifle to scare him; the second hunter watches without interfering (thus, a dislike towards the hunter/bullies is immediately created).
  • Because of a broken wing, the bird has trouble flying and takes Peter's balloon to help it get aloft.
  • After Peter has captured the wolf in a net, the hunter gets him in his rifle's telescopic sight coincidentally, but just before shooting, the second hunter stumbles, falls on him and makes him miss the shot.
  • The caged wolf is brought into the village on a cart where Peter's grandfather tries to sell it. The hunter comes to the container and sticks his rifle in to intimidate the animal (as he did with Peter earlier on). At that time Peter throws the net on the hunter, who becomes tangled in it.
  • Before the grandfather has made a deal, Peter unlocks the cart after looking into the eyes of the wolf. They walk side by side through the awestruck crowd and then the freed wolf runs off in the direction of the silver moon shining over the forest.

Others

Performance by Ballet Rambert at a factory in England, 1943
2007 Toronto, Canada production
Gethin Jones narrating Peter and the Wolf at the Guardian Hay Festival, 2008
  • The Russian pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva transcribed seven excerpts as a virtuoso concert suite,[15] and made a well-known recording of it.
  • In 1958, a videotaped television special entitled Art Carney Meets Peter and the Wolf, with Art Carney as main entertainer, along with the Bil Baird Marionettes, was presented by the American Broadcasting Company, and was successful enough to have been repeated twice. The show had an original storyline in which Carney interacted with some talking marionette animals, notably the wolf, who was the troublemaker of the group. This first half was presented as a musical, with adapted music from Lieutenant Kijé and other Prokofiev works which had special English lyrics fitted into them. The program then segued into a complete performance of Peter and the Wolf, played exactly as written by the composer, and "mimed" by both "human" and "animal" marionettes. The conclusion of the program again featured Carney interacting with the animal marionettes. The show was nominated for three Emmy Awards.[16]
  • Hans Conried recorded the narration with a Dixieland musical band in or around 1960. Since there is no oboe in a Dixieland band, the part of the duck was played by a saxophone.[17]
  • The Clyde Valley Stompers recorded a jazz version on Parlophone Records (45-R 4928) in 1962, which registered on the popular music charts of the time.[18]
  • Allan Sherman parodied the work in a 1964 album called Peter and the Commissar, made with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra.[19]
  • A 1966 version by Hammond organ player 'The Incredible Jimmy Smith', arranged by Oliver Nelson was without narration, and was an improvisation based on the original themes.[20]
  • In 1975, Robin Lumley and Jack Lancaster produced a rock music version. Their music makes use of some of Prokofiev's original themes. Along with Vivian Stanshall as the narrator, the staff is illustrious (among others Gary Moore, Manfred Mann, Phil Collins, Bill Bruford, Stéphane Grappelli, Alvin Lee, Cozy Powell, Brian Eno, Jon Hiseman); the music is very heterogeneous: from psychedelic rock music to jazz (Grappelli's violin solo on the motif of the cat).
  • The 1983 film A Christmas Story features music from Peter and the Wolf prominently during scenes of the character Scut Farkus as bully to the main characters in the film. The surname Farkus is a variation of farkas, which is Hungarian for "wolf".
  • A sequel to the story was written by Justin Locke during 1985 using the original score. "Peter VS. the Wolf" is the Wolf's trial, where he defends himself against the charge of "Duckicide in the first degree, with one gulp." The original music is presented as evidence, but then the Wolf calls individual musicians to the stand and cross-examines them. It requires five actors for a stage presentation.[21]
  • In 1985, Arnie Zane choreographed a punk music ballet version of Peter and the Wolf.[22]
  • "Weird Al" Yankovic and Wendy Carlos produced a comedic version in 1988, using a synthesized orchestra and many additions to the story and music (Peter captures the wolf using his grandfather's dental floss, leading to the moral of the story, "Oral hygiene is very important.").[23]
  • In 1989, An episode of the Muppet Babies entitled, "Skeeter and the Wolf", where Skeeter filling in for Peter, Gonzo as the bird, Scooter as the cat, Fozzie as the duck, Nanny as the grandparent, then Kermit and Piggy as the hunters.
  • A 1990 episode of Tiny Toon Adventures titled "Buster and the Wolverine" featured Elmyra Duff providing narration for a story where Buster Bunny and his friends, represented with musical instruments, combat an evil "wolverine". In this episode, the characters' instruments are: Buster Bunny, a trumpet; Babs Bunny, a harp; Furrball, a violin; Sweetie, a flute; Hamton J. Pig, a tuba; Plucky Duck, a bike horn (later, bagpipes, then an organ, and finally a synthesizer); and the wolverine, drums.[24]
  • Peter Schickele (aka P. D. Q. Bach), wrote an alternate, comedic text for the score entitled Sneaky Pete and the Wolf, converting the story into a Western, including a showdown between Sneaky Pete and the gunslinger El Lobo (which never happens due to some local boys giving El Lobo a hotfoot and sticking a paper airplane in his eye and Sneaky Pete's girlfriend Laura rendering El Lobo unconscious with a vacuum cleaner). It was recorded with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yoel Levi in 1993.[25]
  • In the 1993 Simpsons episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled", guest star Hugh Hefner plays a portion of Peter and the Wolf on wine glasses.
  • In 1995 comedian Harry Shearer performed a sketch on his public radio series Le Show where Kato Kaelin, a primary witness in the then-current O.J. Simpson murder trial, narrated Peter and the Wolf (in the same stammering, disoriented manner he had provided testimony) for a PBS special, ostensibly accompanied by New Age musician/TV host John Tesh.
  • In 1995, a 60-minute television film was made with a mix of live action and animation and the characters from the story were designed by Chuck Jones.[26] The film featured Kirstie Alley, Lloyd Bridges and Ross Malinger in a live-action "wraparound" segment and as voices in the story (Ms. Alley as the Narrator, Mr. Bridges as "The Grandfather" and Ross as "Peter"). The version debuted on the American Broadcasting Company ABC Network on 8 December 1995. This version keeps the duck-friendly ending by having the swallowed duck pop out of the wolf's mouth alive, well, and dancing as the wolf is being captured. The wolf, described as "not a ballet fan", grabs the duck again before being forced to drop him by the hunters. As the story ends, Peter finds the duck crouching at the pond's edge shivering and frightened because of his terrible experience, and Peter reassures him that he (Peter) would always be there to protect him. This version even places the bird as a mother, with six eggs that hatch near the ending. The music for this version was performed by the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra conducted by George Daugherty. The version received a 1996 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program, and received a second Emmy nomination for Daugherty, for Outstanding Music Direction. Daugherty (also one of the writers) and Janis Diamond received a Writers Guild of America nomination for the script. The production received the Grand Award for Best Television Production at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival and a Gold Hugo and Silver Hugo at Chicago International Film Festival, and numerous other awards and nominations.
  • During September 1996, Coldcut (a duo of scratch/mix djs from south London) released a scratch version of the main theme, included on the track "More Beats + Pieces", from their album Let Us Play!.[27]
  • In 1997, George MacKay (actor) produced and directed his own version of Peter and the Wolf, casting himself as the Wolf.
  • Peter and the Wolf was choreographed by Matthew Hart for television in 1997, performed by the dancers of the Royal Ballet School and narrated by Sir Anthony Dowell.[6]
  • In 2001, National Public Radio produced Peter and the Wolf: A Special Report, which treats the familiar plot as if it were a developing news story. Robert Siegel, Linda Wertheimer, Ann Taylor, Steve Inskeep of NPR's All Things Considered report on the event against a performance of the score by the Virginia Symphony conducted by JoAnn Falletta.[28]
  • Sesame Workshop produced a version with Sesame Street characters in 2001 as told by way of a trip to a Boston Pops Orchestra concert. Dubbed as "Elmo's Musical Adventure", the story unfolds inside Baby Bear's imagination as he attends a performance with Papa Bear, conducted by Keith Lockhart. In the story, Peter is played by Elmo, the cat by Oscar the Grouch, the duck by Telly Monster, the bird by Zoe, the grandfather by Big Bird, and the hunters by the Two-Headed Monster. Each character is followed around by a soloist playing that character's instrument, but Telly Monster's "Duck" quits the story after finding out that the wolf eats the duck (he returns as one of the hunters later).[29]
  • In February 2004, ex-president Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Sophia Loren won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for narrating the album Peter and the Wolf/Wolf Tracks. This recording was performed by the Russian National Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano and included Ms. Loren narrating Peter and the Wolf and Clinton narrating The Wolf and Peter by Jean-Pascal Beintus, which is also a narrated orchestral piece, but the story is told from the perspective of the wolf and has the theme of letting animals live in peace.[30]
  • In 2004, Russian model Tatiana Sorokko performed with the Russian National Orchestra,[31] on tour in the United States, and she was the narrator at the Wind Quintet's debut performance of Jean-Pascal Beintus' Wolf Tracks, at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.
  • In 2004 the Shirim Kezmer Orchestra recorded a klezmer version of Peter and the Wolf called "Pincus and the Pig: A Klezmer Tale". The recording was narrated by Maurice Sendak and also featured his illustrations.
  • Psy-trance artist Eliad Grundland released a musical interpretation of the work, as Space Buddha, titled "Land of The Wolves" on his 2006 album Full Circle.[32]
  • In 2005, theatre organist Jelani Eddington performed and recorded with narrator George Woods the only existing theatre organ adaptation of Peter and the Wolf.[33]
  • In 2006, Neil Tobin produced a Halloween-themed narrative called Peter and the Werewolf with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, John Lanchbery conducting.[34]
  • In November 2009, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performed an adaptation of Peter and the Wolf, narrated by Martin Clunes, as part of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's 50th Anniversary Finale Concert in Fort Regent in Saint Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands.
  • In 2009, an Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps episode named "Angelina's Musical Day", Angelina and her friends do a school play of Peter and the Wolf.
  • In 2009, musical group Project Trio released their second studio album "Brooklyn," on which a modernized version of the story was recorded. All three members narrate.[35]
  • 2010 Denver musicians Munly and the Lupercalians[36] released Petr and the Wulf, an alternative take on the original story. Told from the different perspectives of all the characters: Grandfater, Petr, Scarewulf, Cat, Bird, The Three Hunters, Duk, and Wulf. Released on the Alternative Tentacles label.[37]
  • On 19 December 2010, comedian Harry Shearer again performed a sketch on his public radio series Le Show in a style as might be presented by CNN news personalities Larry King, Wolf Blitzer, and Anderson Cooper.
  • In 2012, ITV used a version of the main theme as the title music for their coverage of the European Football Championships, because Prokofiev was born in present-day Ukraine, one of the host countries.[38]
  • In 2013, filmmaker Wes Hurley premiered his short film Peter and the Wolf – a graphic adult version of the story featuring Peter as a gay werewolf-hunter and imagery inspired by Tom of Finland.[39][40]

In copyright law

In 2012, the US Supreme Court's decision in Golan v. Holder restored copyright protection in the United States to numerous foreign works that had entered the public domain. Peter and the Wolf was frequently cited by the parties and amici, as well as by the Court's opinion and by the press, as an example of a well-known work that would be removed from the public domain by the decision.[41]

References

  1. ^ {{cite news|url=http://www.peterwolf.org/about.html |title=Peter & The Wolf| work=About.com|author= Friday, Gavin [unreliable source?]
  2. ^ "Programme Notes: "Prokofiev (1891–1953) – Peter and the Wolf". http://www.Musicweb-international.com. {{cite news}}: External link in |website= (help); More than one of |work= and |website= specified (help); Unknown parameter |ACCESSDATE= ignored (|accessdate= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Prokofiev, Sergei (2000); Prokofieva, Rose (translator) (1960). Shlifstein, S (ed.). Autobiography, Articles, Reminiscences. The Minerva Group, Inc. p. 89. ISBN 0-89875-149-7. {{cite book}}: |author2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Snaring a fresh audience using a cautionary tale" by Elissa Blake, The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 August 2013
  5. ^ Morrison, Simon (2008). The People's Artist : Prokofiev's Soviet Years. Oxford University Press. p. 46. ISBN 9780199720514.
  6. ^ a b Peter and the Wolf (TV 1997) at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  7. ^ Review by T.H., Gramophone, June 1961, p. 31
  8. ^ audio files
  9. ^ The Big Cartoon Database. Bcdb.com (20 April 1946). Retrieved on 1 July 2011.
  10. ^ Peter and the Wolf, 1957 Disney TV introduction
  11. ^ Anthony Linick. The Lives of Ingolf Dahl. Author House 2008, P 294
  12. ^ Breakthru Films
  13. ^ Annecy 2008 Festival, 2007 Award Winning Films. Annecy.org. Retrieved on 1 July 2011.
  14. ^ "Oscars 2008: Winners". 25 February 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  15. ^ scribd
  16. ^ Art Carney Meets Peter and the Wolf (TV 1958) at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  17. ^ The New York Sun. Nysun.com. Retrieved on 1 July 2011.
  18. ^ The Geoff Boxell Home Page. Geoffboxell.tripod.com. Retrieved on 1 July 2011.
  19. ^ Artist Direct
  20. ^ Allmusic.com
  21. ^ Justin Locke Productions. Justinlocke.com. Retrieved on 1 July 2011.
  22. ^ Banes, Sally. Terpsichore in Sneakers: Post-Modern Dance at Google Books, p. xxx, Wesleyan University Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-8195-6160-2
  23. ^ Wendy Carlos' official website. Wendycarlos.com. Retrieved on 1 July 2011.
  24. ^ Tiny Toon Adventures episode guide. Mindspring.com. Retrieved on 1 July 2011.
  25. ^ Peter Schickele official website. Schickele.com (1 May 2011). Retrieved on 1 July 2011.
  26. ^ Peter and the Wolf (1996) (TV)
  27. ^ The Boston Phoenix [dead link]
  28. ^ Public Radio Musicsource. Prms.org. Retrieved on 1 July 2011.
  29. ^ Elmo's Musical Adventure at Muppet Wiki
  30. ^ Russian National Orchestra. Russianarts.org (21 October 2003). Retrieved on 1 July 2011.
  31. ^ "RNO Russian National Orchestra". Russianarts.org. February 2004. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  32. ^ Track list for Full Circle
  33. ^ Adaptation for Theatre organ by Jelani Eddington
  34. ^ Neil Tobin, Necromancer. Necromancerevents.com. Retrieved on 1 July 2011.
  35. ^ http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/projectmusic2
  36. ^ Petr & The Wulf, tracklist (11 December 2010)
  37. ^ Petr & The Wulf, Alternative Tentacles
  38. ^ ITV Euro 2012 on YouTube
  39. ^ http://www.outfest.org/tixSYS/2013/xslguide/eventnote.php?EventNumber=3811&notepg=
  40. ^ Peter and the Wolf (2012) at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  41. ^ Ginsburg, Ruth. "Associate Justice" (PDF). Majority Opinion. Supreme Court of United States. Retrieved 22 January 2012.

External links