I want my class of 6-8 year olds to listen to Peter and the Wolf. Unfortunately the CD another teacher lent me made me gasp in astonishment as soon as the music began - it's played on the wrong instruments!

Some people may find it interesting to hear it played on a sheng, a tiple, accordions etc but to me it's just horrible! The cat must be on the slinky clarinet, the bird must flutter on the flute.

So, can anyone recommend a good recording? I have my old LP of Richard Baker narrating which could be transferred onto a CD but there must be some really good more recent recordings available. I don't want to accidentally buy another I don't like. You wouldn't know from the front cover that Lenny Henry's isn't played on the right instruments.



    

Thanks Bryn. Glad to know someone likes the Lenny Henry version after my unappreciative comments about it!

I've just found a list of 46 recordings here: http://www.prokofiev.org/recordings/workall.cfm?WorkID=80

Were available recordings reviewed on Radio 3 about a year ago? I think Sting's recording was recommended. I've just been listening to clips from David Bowie's version - doesn't sound too bad. Not sure about Dame Edna...

I think Sting's experience as a teacher helps with his delivery, this notwithstanding. Child friendly and not at all patronising. Abbado is just so good with Prokofiev. The rest of the disc is up to the same high standard.

But nice to see you here, oli. Do you play the cat?

Here are a few stills from Suzie Templeton's beautiful animated version of Peter and the Wolf which has no narration at all (only the music, in Prokofiev's orchestration!) and is also available on DVD.

I've got the music for that and it's not easy, at least not for me. Did you follow the instructions and pre-record part of the end so that you're playing a duet with yourself in performance?

And I meant to add that I've yet to come across an ideal recording of Peter and the Wolf. My favourite is with Paul Daneman as the narrator. It used to be freely available in the early 70s but I don't think it has ever appeared on CD. But whatever problems you have, MJ, they're not as bad as when I started school and the LP we used had a chunk missing from it, so that we had to start about a third of the way into the story.

Who's that? The name's not familiar.


Sorry Tony but that's made me laugh! It's like reading children a story minus the first few pages - how ridiculous!


Thanks Daniel, how kind. No complaints about my salary but what I'd like is more adult support in the classroom - that's what the Government should be funding. I'd also like more time for music but it's almost squeezed out of the timetable. Plenty of singing of Christmas songs coming up in the next half-term though...the dreaded Christmas production! Rehearsals will probably start at the beginning of November - aaaargh!