Peter and The Wolf - Recordings

Recordings

The first American version, recorded in 1939 by RCA Victor, was issued in an album of three 78 rpm discs. It was narrated by Richard Hale, a film actor best known for villainous and exotic roles, with music performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Serge Koussevitzky. Hale also served as narrator for Arthur Fiedler's 1953 RCA Victor high fidelity recording with the Boston Pops Orchestra, which included Paul Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice and King Henry VIII dances by Camille Saint-Saëns and Edward German.

A 1987 Chandos Records recording with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra was conducted by Neeme Järvi, while the composer's son, Oleg Prokofiev, and grandson (Gabriel Prokofiev) were the narrators for the 1991 Hyperion Records recording performed by the New London Orchestra conducted by Ronald Corp.

Many English-language recordings of this famous piece have been made, including the following examples:

• A mono recording made by Columbia Records, with Arthur Godfrey narrating and the music played by Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra. This version has never been issued on CD.
• A recording with Basil Rathbone as narrator, performed by the All-American Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski (Avid Master Series, 1941); audio files restored by Bob Varney.
• A recording with Boris Karloff as narrator with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra under Mario Rossi (Vanguard Records, 1957).
• A bilingual recording featuring narration in Spanish and English by José Ferrer, performed by the Vienna State Opera Orchestra conducted by Eugene Aynsley Goossens (Kapp Records, 1959).
• A recording with Michael Flanders as narrator with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Efrem Kurtz (EMI Records, 1959).
• A recording by the New York Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein as conductor and narrator. The popularity of the group's televised Young People's Concerts made this an auspicious release (Columbia Records, 1960).
• A recording from the 1960s with Garry Moore as narrator and the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of London conducted by Artur Rodziński. The reverse side of this 12-inch LP record also features The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns with Garry Moore (narrator), Josef and Grete Dichler (duopianists) and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra conducted by Hermann Scherchen. Catalog no. Whitehall WHS20040.
• A recording in Volume 5 of Decca Records' The World of the Great Classics series, featuring Sir Ralph Richardson as narrator with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent. (This version is praised in various editions of The Stereo Record Guide as the finest recording and narration of the work ever made).
• A recording with Sir John Gielgud as narrator, with Richard Stamp conducting the Orchestra of the Academy of London (Virgin Classics, 1989) (Sir John's royalties for this recording were donated to The League of Friends of Charity Heritage, a facility for children handicapped physically).
• Sir John Gielgud narrated a second version in 1996, this time performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrea Licata (Intersound Recordings).
• A recording with Christopher Lee as narrator with the English String Orchestra conducted by Sir Yehudi Menuhin (Nimbus Records, 1989).
• A Decca Phase 4 recording with Sean Connery as narrator, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Antal Doráti (Decca Records, 1965).
• Peter Ustinov was the narrator for two recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra, one conducted by Herbert von Karajan (Angel Records 35638, 1956) and one conducted by Philip Ellis (Cirrus Classics CBS CD 105, 1989).
• A recording with Paul Hogan as narrator with the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Igor Markevitch (EMI, 1987), with the traditional plot but transferring the locale to the Australian Outback. (This recording was withdrawn soon after its release because of unflattering portrayals of Australia's aboriginal people and is now considered "out of print".)
• A recording with Sterling Holloway as narrator (Walt Disney Records). He was also narrator for The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
• A 1971 EMI recording with Richard Baker as narrator, accompanied by the New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Raymond Leppard.
• A recording with Will Geer as narrator performed by the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Johannes Somary (Vanguard Records VSO-30033).
• A Philips recording by the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by John Williams. The American release (412 559-2) featured Dudley Moore as narrator while the UK release (412 556-2) featured Terry Wogan as narrator.
• A 1975 Deutsche Grammophon recording featuring Hermione Gingold as narrator, accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Karl Böhm.
• A Decca recording with Beatrice Lillie as narrator with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Skitch Henderson.
• A recording with Captain Kangaroo as narrator and performed by the Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York conducted by Leopold Stokowski.
• Two recordings were performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, one featuring Cyril Ritchard as narrator (Columbia Records ML 5183) and one featuring David Bowie as narrator (RCA Victor, 1978).
• A recording featuring Mia Farrow as narrator and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by André Previn (EMI ASD 2935, 1973).
• A recording featuring Itzhak Perlman as narrator and performed by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta (EMI, 1986).
• A recording featuring Lorne Greene as narrator and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent (RCA, 1965).
• A recording featuring Sir Alec Guinness as narrator and performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler (BMG, 1988).
• A recording narrated by Jonathan Winters with Efrem Kurtz conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra was released in 1989 on Angel/EMI. Recording also featured Winters narrating the Saint-Saëns/Ogden Nash The Carnival of the Animals.
• A recording with Patrick Stewart as narrator and performed by the Orchestre de L'Opéra Lyon (Orchestra of the Opéra National de Lyon) conducted by Kent Nagano (Erato, 1994).
• A recording with Ben Kingsley as narrator, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras (Cala Records, 1996).
• A recording with Dame Edna Everage as narrator and performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Lanchbery (Naxos Records, 1997).
• A recording with Melissa Joan Hart in her "Clarissa" persona from the Nickelodeon television series Clarissa Explains It All as narrator and performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa (Sony Classical, 1994).
• Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recorded two versions, one with Tom Seaver as narrator (MMG) and another version in 1979 with Carol Channing as narrator (Caedmon Records TC-1623).
• A recording with George Raft as narrator and performed by the London Festival Orchestra conducted by Stanley Black (London SPC-21084). In this version, the story is reformulated as a gangster tale in the style of the Hollywood films that Raft had once acted in.
• A recording with Sting was made by Deutsche Grammophon and played by Claudio Abbado and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. This was used as the soundtrack to the television special Peter and the Wolf: A Prokofiev Fantasy.
• A recording narrated by David Attenborough for BBC Music Magazine (free CD with the June 2000 issue).
• A recording with Sharon Stone as narrator released by Deutsche Grammophon as part of A Classic Tale: Music for Our Children (289 471 171-2, 2001) and performed by James Levine conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke's.
• A recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Stephen Simon, conductor, Yadu (aka Dr. Konrad Czynski), narrator, Bonnie Ward Simon, elucidator of Peter and the Wolf with additional educational and entertaining tracks including Russian folk music with the Trio Voronezh, Prokofiev's life, and a music lesson by Maestro Simon. Part of Maestro Classics' Stories in Music series of new classics for narrator and orchestra.
• A 1984 recording with William F. Buckley, Jr. narrating made by Leopold Hager and the Orchestra of Radio/TV Luxembourg. (Proarte Digital Records).