Maestro Classics ~ A Review

 

I was so excited when I was notified that we would be receiving the award winning Peter and the Wolf cd from Maestro Classics to review for the TOS Crew.  This Peter and the Wolf CD is a product in Maestro Classic’s Stories in Music Collection.

Stories in Music began as a concert series that conductor Stephen Simon and his wife Bonnie performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.  The Simon’s have since made this concert series available on CD through Maestro Classics.

Our CD came nicely packaged in a 3-flap package.  Included in the package was an audio CD with a total playing time of 68 minutes and a 24-page program book.  The 5x5-inch program book contains puzzles for your child to complete and also some biographical information about the composer of Peter and the Wolf {Sergei Prokofiev}, the narrator on the cd {Yadu} and others involved in the making of this cd. 

This particular performance of Peter and the Wolf was recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Stephen Simon, and narrated by Yadu.

This CD contains eight separate tracks or “chapters”.  In addition to the 21-minute instrumental version of Peter and the Wolf, there is also a separate  narrated version of Peter and the Wolf plus some extras like background information on the composer {Sergei Prokofiev}, a brief lesson about music composition and themes, and also a track of Russian folk music. {View each track, it’s running time, and listen to samples here.}

My Thoughts

My kiddos were already familiar with Peter and the Wolf, and they loved Maestro Classic’s recording of this familiar music.  We enjoy listening to music while we are eating lunch, so I surprised them by playing our new CD during lunch time one day.  They hadn’t heard Peter and the Wolf in a while and they were excited to listen to Maestro’s version.  They especially enjoyed the narrated rendition of Peter and the Wolf. 

I really appreciate the fact that this resource is more than just a music CD.  The additional educational tracks {biographical information about Prokofiev and the educational lesson about music composition} make this a complete music lesson in itself…one that requires very little planning on my part :)

More Information

The recommended age for Maestro Classic’s Peter and the Wolf CD is 4 and up and their families.  All of my kiddos loved this CD {ages 8, 6, and 4}…and so did I. 

Peter and the Wolf can be purchased directly from the Maestro Classics website for $16.98. 

Maestro Classics also sells a variety of other Stories in Music CDs including Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, The Tortoise and the Hare, and The Story of Swan Lake.  Each of these CDs is available for $16.98 plus shipping and handling from the Maestro Classics website.

The Maestro Classics website also contains additional educational resources for some of these products.

Click on the above banner to read what my fellow crewmates are saying about their experience with Maestro Classics.

I received a complimentary copy of this cd in order to provide an honest review of our experience with this product.  I did not receive any other compensation for this review.