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Sergei Prokofiev, 1917
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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 25th 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!
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| My littlest buddy on his favorite instrument! |
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| My oldest kiddo giving the violin a try...NOT a favorite unfortunately |
HERE ARE VIDEO OF THE BOYS PLAYING THEIR FAVORITE INSTRUMENTS!
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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
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