# Peter and the Wolf -- recording that works for kids?



## ChrisBrewster (Jul 4, 2014)

[OK, Peter and the Wolf isn't purely orchestral, but it's not an opera, either, so here I am.]

I have grandchildren who are just the right age for Peter. Few online listings let me sample a recording, but the ones I can access all seem to have been recorded in a large concert hall, and the narrator's voice is booming in from somewhere in the middle of the place. I wonder if the producers understand that these recordings should work for children. I'd prefer the orchestra in a smaller, "deader" hall, and the narrator possibly even recorded separately in a space with very little echo, so that he or she seems to be sitting in the room with me. I could swear recordings of the kind I want were available when I was young, because I doubt I would have liked these Grand Central Station productions. Can anyone steer me to one that fits my description?

[I loved the work as a kid, and I've been a Prokofiev fan ever since!]


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## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

I don't know about the acoustics (I don't own the recording anymore, I guess it's at youtube - I see archive.org has it too) but I think the 1960 recording with Peter Ustinov (narrator) and the Philharmonia with Karajan is hard to beat.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

My kids loved the old TV cartoon of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The Boris Karloff narration fascinated them since they knew that he was Frankenstein's monster. So the natural choice for Peter and the Wold was Boris Karloff with Mario Rossi on the Vanguard Label. But it's not what you want: it's obviously done in a large hall and the reverb is quite heavy. 

So...on to David Bowie with Ormandy on RCA. The voice miking is quite dry and upfront, the playing spectacular needless to say. Add to it that the kids knew who Bowie was really helped, too. There is a newer version to totally avoid: Alice Cooper on DG. Some idiot, wanting to ride the coattails of a giant, decided P&W needed to be updated and revised - and lengthened - to Peter and the Wolf in Hollywood. Skip it.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Try Sean Connery and Dorati:






It's available on CD, and quite inexpensive.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

My favorite P & W is by Reiner/NBC ['49] - with Lauritz Melchior as the narrator....Melchior has a great time of it!! obviously enjoying himself immensely...
I have this on a MYTO disc - the P & W is incorrectly listed as the ChicagoSO in '51...but I believe that is incorrect - Reiner/Melchior/NBC recorded this on 6/19/49


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## ChrisBrewster (Jul 4, 2014)

Thanks for the responses! I was unaware of several that were mentioned. We're starting with David Bowie, since his narration works well, and we like the tempos even though I'd prefer less hall sound. We found Ustinoff/Karajan a bit too slow. We wish Basil Rathbone/Stokowski had done the same recording and production approach with later technology -- the 40s sound is inadequate. Some versions are too wordy and trample the music, some try to add touches that maybe they shouldn't have. This is as difficult as finding the right version of an opera! Thanks again for the suggestions.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Try Sting with Abbado.

It has a few things that may appeal to kids - the cover is a cartoon, Sting's narration has a bit of fun about it he gives each character a different voice. It also has a fine Classical Symphony on the disc which is a nice next step for the kids to listen too.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Malx said:


> Try Sting with Abbado.
> 
> It has a few things that may appeal to kids - the cover is a cartoon, Sting's narration has a bit of fun about it he gives each character a different voice. It also has a fine Classical Symphony on the disc which is a nice next step for the kids to listen too.


Ive used the Sting one for kids at school some time ago and they liked it (on the whole) but a few of the characters are a bit crap. The Johnny Morris one gets on my nerves, big style.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

This is not going to help at all as it is the wrong language, but re-listening to the one I grew up with in the late 1970s it's amazing how dead serious and dramatic the narrator (Matthias Wieman, the recording is with Maazel) is. I like him a lot, though, better than too avuncular or silly.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Another classic is the Disney version. A preview:


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## SONDEK (Sep 29, 2017)

I have several versions.

My fave... Superbly narrated, played and recorded.


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