Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” conducted by Kent Nagano published as an audiobook (November 2020)

In connection to the World Children’s day, PENTATONE is delighted to announce the release of its most important classical music children’s album as audiobooks.

Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf

Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, in which a young boy catches a wolf and brings him to the zoo, is arguably the most famous children’s story with classical music. Once designed to introduce young audiences to the workings of an orchestra and its instruments, it showcases the composer’s superb ability to bring a simple story to life, giving each character a recognizable motive and instrumental colour. This Grammy-winning recording was made in 2003, as a charitable work for orphanages, performed by the Russian National Orchestra under the baton of Kent Nagano. We are now releasing the English and Spanish versions as audiobooks narrated respectively by star actors Sophia Loren and Antonio Banderas.

Listen here: https://smarturl.it/PeterWolfAbook

Kent Nagano recalls the recording and the whole experience (Beintus’ Wolf Tracks was included on the original physical release)

“The recording is stellar, the narrators engaging, the message one of hope and harmony.” So read one of the reviews when our charity recording of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Beintus’ Wolf Tracks was released in 2003. We assembled a dream team: two world leaders (Clinton and Gorbachev), a screen legend (Sophia Loren), and the magnificent Russian National Orchestra, with whom I have enjoyed a long and rewarding association. All gave their talent, and their heart, to a work of art that is at once timeless and in the moment. Our desire for harmony, and our hopes for our children, has never been more heartfelt and urgent than it is now”.