Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A joke? Unfortunately not!, 8 Oct 2003
Ok, it sounds like a joke, but it isn't: American president promoting world peace and understanding, and Russian president promoting care for the environment... What about Iraq and Chernobyl? And Sofia Loren in her poor English doesn't really sound convincing. Shame for the really good RNO's playing and Nagano's conducting. The new piece (did anyone hear anything by that composer?) is washed out illustrative piece of music with no real inspiration or oomph. But then, why it was necessary to re-write Prokofiev? All in all, if you like Peter and the wolf, go somewhere else, Sofia Loren's narration is annoying. Again, the orchestral playing is superb, but there are too many other political ideas here, that the music is lost. If political correctness is what you're looking for, you're at the right place. Are the Russians ashamed of Prokofiev? Or just Russian politicians? Was it so easy to drag this great orchestra in playing such a poor piece of music by virtually unknown composer as a vehicle for political promotion? True, money goes to charities, but who created the need for charities? As charming as they are, Clinton and Gorbachev should stick to what they know best - wars and bombing other countries, and leave the music to musicians. Some great solo playing here is unfortunately overshadowed by Loren's bad English in Prokofiev. The other piece is not worth playing or mentioning, as it is written to a completely un-witty text in which the wolf (or woof) surrenders himself to protect his family... Listening to this SACD was a bizarre experience, and I'm not sure I won't to go through it again. The recording is good, but some analogue transfers from Pentatone sound much more convincing in surround. Unless you are friend with Clinton or Gorbachev and they give it to you as a present, don't waste your money.
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2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Global Heartwarming, 22 Oct 2003
By A Customer
Introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev and narrated by Sophia Loren and Bill Clinton (who will donate their royalties to charities) these two musical stories come alive in familiar voices particularly relevant to a new century. The storytellers here - one relaxed and convivial, the other elegant and beguiling - lend a special intimacy that transcends age and nationality. Apparent immediately is that both understand how to talk to children, with warmth and candor, as if children were in the room. Nothing here is cute, condescending or silly; there is not a trace of the hyperbolic, manufactured emotion so common to most audio/video productions for children now, only respect and the natural parity of storytellers and listeners having a good time. The liner booklet, illustrated by orphaned and disabled Moscow children in tasty candy colors, features insightful but easy reading about all involved, including The Wolf.The two stories brilliantly complement each other, and yet both narratives stand on their own. "Peter and the Wolf" is well known, but the new "Wolf Tracks" offers an equally engaging tonal world. Like Prokofiev, Beintus crafts music with enough complexity to pull a child in, but not so much that he or she can't find a place in its own richly hued landscape, a place so real they can smell woodland breezes, hear paws in tender grasses. Both, as rendered by this always superb orchestra, guarantee imagination-ignition in any kid's brain within ten bars. L.L. Greene, journalist
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0 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Prokofiev: Peter And The Wolf, 9 Feb 2004
It won a Grammy in Feb. 2004. So, it can't be all that bad.
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