[Nightfly]

A new release on Mp3sparks is Peter and the Wolf by Russian composer
Sergey Prokofiev and Narrated by David Bowie..
This is a wonderful recording that introduces children to Orchestral
Instruments and there place in the Orchestra..The piece tells a simple
story of a young boy who captures a wolf that's terrorizing forrest animals..
The characters are represented by various instruments of the Orchestra..
The Bird a Flute,Duck a Oboe,Granddad a Bassoon,The Wolf 3 horns and Peter
the hero is represented by the Strings...The story narrated by David Bowie
is charming and entertaining..This release is from 1972..I played this for my daughter 16 years ago when she was five..she loved it and had no idea who Bowie was..but I did ..so it was entertaining for the both of us...
So for those of you that have children..this is highly recommended as
a educational tool for learning about the Orchestra..and if you don't have kids
it's still a good listen..
Another classic piece of music by Prokofiev also on Mp3sparks is
Romeo and Juliet ..Beautiful music written in 4 parts for a Ballet..
This is a classic recording by George Solti and the Chicago Symphony

Nightfly

[Dave C]

Hi Nightfly,
About three weeks ago I downloaded a copy of Peter and the Wolf off allofmp3, but it was not the one you mentioned in your post (do not think this was available at the time). The one I got was Peter And The Wolf (Lenny Henry) 2002. I have given this a few listens and quite like it, but my son has shown no really interest yet (probably a bit young at 3 and a bit). I am guessing this will be the same as the one you mentioned with David Bowie, or is that like saying Britney Spears is the same as Joni Mitchell (where as everyone in the know knows, she is of course much better ).
Cheers,
Dave C

[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by Dave C

Hi Nightfly,
About three weeks ago I downloaded a copy of Peter and the Wolf off allofmp3, but it was not the one you mentioned in your post (do not think this was available at the time). The one I got was Peter And The Wolf (Lenny Henry) 2002. I have given this a few listens and quite like it, but my son has shown no really interest yet (probably a bit young at 3 and a bit). I am guessing this will be the same as the one you mentioned with David Bowie, or is that like saying Britney Spears is the same as Joni Mitchell (where as everyone in the know knows, she is of course much better ).
Cheers,
Dave C

Dave,
Good for you ,3 is a little young, but your a good Dad for getting it for him..The Bowie version is special not because he is a rock icon that we are familiar with, but as you know Bowie has a lovely speaking voice and objectively as a classical listener I also like the performance by Ormandy
and the Philadelphia Orchestra .There are literally 100's of versions
by different actors,musicians, you name it ,they have all tried to cash in
..lol..but only a few are standouts..Prokofievs wife did one and is very
charming,like a grandma telling you a story,that's my favorite as well
as Bowie's.Bowie did this recording when he had his first child and
also is a big classical fan...This is what made this one work.

Thanks for the interest,
Night fly

[vikulenka]

Good old Peter and the Wolf. Heard it first when I was three or so - whoever did the voice I'd be hard pressed to tell. Although does seem more likely that it was Prokofiev's wive then Bowie, as it was in Russian - or pretty much anyone else. Great stuff though. I'd credit much of it with helping develop my phenomenal music taste. Will be sure to have my kids raised on it, once I do have them. Not sure what site I'll be downloading the music to play to them though with all the hiccups on allofmp3/mp3sparks the past week