Mini Maestro's Peter and the Wolf

Sergei Prokofiev, 1917

The boys at the Tacoma Symphony's Mini Maestros Peter and the Wolf

In 1936, Sergei Prokofiev was commissioned by the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow to create a new symphony, meant to inspire and cultivate a musical interest in young children. Inspired by the idea, Prokofiev went to work and created Peter and the Wolf in only four days.  The debut did not go so well unfortunately, with a sparse audience and lackluster reviews. Eventually, Prokofiev came to America and met with Walt Disney. Speaking very little English and Disney not speaking a word of Russian, Prokofiev sat down at a piano and began to play and tell his story.  Disney immediately fell in love with the idea. And in 1946, Peter was added to a movie called Make Mine Music eventually being reissued with the movie Fantasia.

The Mini Maestros performance of Peter and the Wolf was at the Rialto Theater in Tacoma, Sunday January 25^th at 2:30PM performed by the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra. Not knowing what to expect, we were surprised (for some reason) at how many children were present.  After having been to the carillon performance and not seeing any other kids, then walking into the Rialto and have it crawling with little bodies was a bit of a shock.  Fortunately, we were able to find seats in the very first row right in front of the conductor and narrator!  It was nice to not have to worry about if my kids reacted to the music loudly because ALL the children were loud. I am so happy we found the seats in the front it would have been very distracting even just a few rows further back.

The children loved watching the TSO’s new conductor, Sarah Ioannides. She was very animated and they were trying to keep up with her movements from their seats.  I am so glad the orchestra members knew this was a children’s performance or we probably would have been kicked out of the theater.  Not that my children were being bad, but, they were conducting too. OK…I was conducting too. It was really hard not to though. The environment in the Rialto that day was fun, lively and inviting, everyone should have tried conduct like Ms Ioannides.

During the performance I felt free to whisper quietly to my kids.  It was a great opportunity to ask them what they were feeling while the different instruments were playing.  They were able to distinguish different emotions to me, which I was very excited about.  Overwhelmingly, they felt very unhappy and frightened when the French horns played the wolf. And they smiled every time the flute played the little bird, mimicking a small hummingbird fluttering around my head with their hands.

The music was amazing but the best part was actually at the end of the show. A lot of the musicians brought their instruments to the front of the stage and allowed the children to test them out! Since we were in the front row we were able to quickly get to the instruments before the other parents could wrangle theirs offspring out of their isles.  Having the opportunity to get to play the instruments right after hearing the music was just incredible for my boys.   

They tried every instrument they could get their hands on.  Every instrument was a disaster for us until we got to the trumpet. My youngest blew a perfectly clean note right away. I have video below of him playing the trumpet, I forgot I had a camera on me so I only got 10 seconds of footage but he went back to the trumpet at least 6 times and progressively got better each time.  The last instrument was the bassoon, which my oldest immediately liked and was able to produce sound from which amazed  both him and me. It was recommend that I start him on the clarinet now so when he went into Jr High he could switch to the bassoon.  

 By the time we got to the car after the show, my kids had me convinced they needed to play the trumpet and clarinet. I was able to find them both nice used instruments which are in the process of being shipped to our home.  I had bought a violin for my kids when they were first born, but after the “petting zoo” it became obvious that neither wanted to play the violin. So, they convinced me I should learn to play it instead. With much hesitation I have begun watching videos on youtube. I have been learning to hold my bow correctly and can slowly play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

We were absolutely enthralled with the performance and “petting zoo”, what an opportunity!

My littlest buddy on his favorite instrument!

My oldest kiddo giving the violin a try...NOT a favorite unfortunately

HERE ARE VIDEO OF THE BOYS PLAYING THEIR FAVORITE INSTRUMENTS!

1st time trumpet player!

Boys playing the bassoon

Program and Tickets

As a small child one of my favorite toys was a brown and yellow Fisher-Price turntable and a stack of my very own records.  I used to spend hours listening to the stories and reading along with the accompanying book.  One of my all-time favorite was, without a doubt, Peter and the Wolf, narrated by none other than Sterling Holloway. 
THIS IS EXACTLY LIKE MY ORIGINAL DISNEY RECORD FROM WHEN I WAS A CHILD!!!

WEBSITES

THE original 1946 DISNEY Cartoon of Peter and the Wolf

1957, Walt Disney's Recollection of When He First Meet Prokofiev

DSO Symphonie Fantastique

Here I am with my laptop watching the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

I thought I would give the Detroit Symphony Orchestra online a try on January 25, 2015 at noon. I didn’t expect to really like it especially after having experienced the exceptional carillon and percussion show only two nights before. But, feeling crunched on time I thought I would give it a try. The performance consisted of three pieces all by different composers.

The first piece was by contemporary classical Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa called Blooming II. As I listened I kept thinking of time lapse camera footage of a flower’s lifecycle. The piece begins with a light, airy mystical sound, as though a flower was emerging from the ground. As the flower grows the sound began to intensify, at times it sounded like the flower was struggles, possibly being pelleted with heavy wind and rain. Eventually, the rain calms to only a slights sprinkle with the flower blooming. It even sounded as though bees were buzzing around the flower at one point. At the end the tempo slows and the intensity softens as though the flower is slowly dying. It has a very anti-climactic ending just like a flower withering up and falling off the stem. This was an interesting piece, I liked the different ways he represented a plant maturing with the instruments. However, it was not my favorite even though it was good.

The second piece was by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, called Piano Concerto No 3. Bartok immigrated to the United States when WWII began and struggled to make money for his family, because he was very ill with Leukemia and he wasn’t well known in the US. However, he was commissioned to create this concerto which seemed to give him a boost of energy, probably leading to this piece having a softer, happier feel compared to his earlier pieces that were more somber. He dedicated the concerto to his wife for her 42nd birthday which was October 31. Unfortunately, he was never able to complete the last 17 measures dying on September 26th. Using his notes his friend Tibor Serly completed the concerto.

Not knowing anything about the concerto I watched the DSO staff prepare for it by rolling a baby grand piano out, and I began to worry. I love listening to piano, but I never think it’s fair to have one contend with a huge orchestra. That probably seems silly, but I have heard some pieces where the piano doesn’t stand out and it gets drowned in all the noise. Of course, I understand in some pieces it’s only supposed to add to not stand out, but…I know if played well a piano can be jaw dropping. After the piano was placed, a young woman came out on the stage standing next to the piano, and then the conductor appeared. I watched the audience’s reaction and they were all clapping wildly as the two took their positions. As the piece begins it became very clear why everyone had been so excited about the pianist. She was electrifying! I have only heard a couple of pianist perform at that level…ever. Of course, I had to find out more about her.

Her name is Beatrice Rana from Italy, and she possess a very rare maturity for her 21 years. I wasn’t able to find a link to this particular DSO performance, but I am including two other links at the bottom of this post one is her website and the other is an exceptional performance of Rachmaninov Etude Tableau Op 39 No 6 that she did when she was 17 or 18. She has been winning many prestigious piano competitions since she was 18 and she is in demand all over the world to play with various orchestras. It turns out the day she had the show in Detroit (which was actually January 22, 2015) she was celebrating her 21st birthday!

The final piece, Symphonie Fantastique, was created by French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. While the stage was being adjusted for the performance the announcer began to explain why Berlioz wrote this symphony. It didn’t shock me to find that he lived and composed during the Romantic era, which was perfect for a guy like Berlioz. While living in Paris he began going to Shakespearean plays, and one night while at one such play he fell madly in love with an actress named Harriet Smithson. He composed the symphony shortly thereafter for her. The symphony consisted of five movements all represents a young man’s changing desires and feelings for a woman. It is a strange symphony sounding warped and dream-like at times. Once again it didn’t surprise me to learn he had probably been taking opium while composing.

Overall, the DSO was a good experience, but I would rather see shows in person when possible.

This is the Program for the DSO performance on January 25, 2015

Beatrice Rana

WEBSITES

Beatrice Rana playing Rachmaninov Etude Tableau Op 39 No 6

Beatrice Rana Website

Toshio Hosokawa Blooming II