David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf
David Bowie narrates Prokofiev's classic orchestral tale.
David Bowie recorded Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf for his young son, narrating the piece on a 1978 RCA Red Seal album. Produced by Jay David Saks, the record paired it with Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, both performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy. The album reached number 136 on the US Billboard chart and earned a Grammy nomination in 1979.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- the Philadelphia Orchestra with David Bowie
- Released
- 2 May 1978
- Recorded
- October 1975 (music); December 1977 (narration)
- Venue
- Scottish Rite Temple, Philadelphia (music)
- Studio
- RCA, New York City (narration)
- Genre
- Orchestral; classical
- Label
- RCA Red Seal
- Producer
- Jay David Saks
Facts from the source article.
Overview
Sergei Prokofiev wrote Peter and the Wolf to help kids get familiar with orchestral instruments. It follows a boy named Peter who sneaks out of his grandfather’s yard to track down a wolf. A clarinet stands in for the cat, and three French horns represent the wolf. The piece first played in Moscow in 1936 and didn’t get much applause; it stayed mostly unknown outside Russia until Walt Disney turned it into a cartoon in 1946. After Prokofiev died in 1953, people started calling it one of his best works. More than 400 recordings have been made since the premiere. Leonard Bernstein did a narrated version in 1960, and Sean Connery recorded one in 1971 with the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. RCA Records first asked Alec Guinness and Peter Ustinov to narrate their version, but both said no, so they hired David Bowie. Bowie did it as a present for his son Duncan, who was seven at the time. Jay David Saks produced the project. The Philadelphia Orchestra played the music under Eugene Ormandy’s direction, recording at the Scottish Rite Temple in Philadelphia on October 8, 1975. Bowie laid down his narration at RCA Studio B in New York City in December 1977, right after finishing promotion for his album "Heroes." Ormandy had no idea who Bowie was and was doubtful when he found out Bowie was a rock star, but after hearing the finished recording, he liked Bowie’s work. They never met.
Release history
The album was released on 2 May 1978 on RCA Red Seal, with Bowie's narration on side A and a music-only recording of Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra on side B, recorded by the Philadelphia Orchestra in late March 1974. Promotional material used the tagline: "What happens when a world-famous maestro teams up with a pop-rock dynamo?" The album peaked at number 136 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart on 9 June and remained for eight weeks. At the 21st Annual Grammy Awards in 1979, it was nominated for Best Recording for Children, losing to The Muppet Show soundtrack. The original US LP was pressed on green vinyl with liner notes by Mary Campbell, and was also issued on 8-track. Reissues on CD included varying extra tracks and artwork: a 1992 US CD featured a wolf wearing a mask of Bowie's face and added Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite; a 1994 reissue replaced that with Camille Saint-Saëns's The Carnival of the Animals. A vinyl reissue by RCA/Music On Vinyl followed on 23 October 2014.
Reception
Reviews of the album have been positive, with critics describing Bowie's narration as "charming", "splendid", and "engaging". Rolling Stone's Stephen Demorest felt Bowie had found "his most charming guise since Hunky Dory". Later, Thomas Jerome Seabrook noted Bowie's "wide-eyed [and] enthusiastic delivery", while Peter Dobrin of The Philadelphia Inquirer praised his use of different voices for the characters. Chris O'Leary found Bowie's voice too low in the mix. The Philadelphia Orchestra's music was also well received. Jon Savage of Sounds called the LP a "perfect" introductory album to classical music for children. A review in the Reno Gazette-Journal called it "surprisingly refreshing". Joe Viglione of AllMusic described it as a "remarkable and well-crafted project", and Paul Howlett of The Guardian felt it "sits quite neatly" in Bowie's discography. Nicholas Pegg wrote that while not comparable to John Gielgud's definitive recording, Bowie's narration has genuine charm and is a fascinating curio from a period of unlikely collaborations.
More in Band Members & Collaborators
Elsewhere in David Bowie
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced