Product Description
THERE IS NO better way to introduce children to classical music than with Prokofiev’s musical fairy tale of the little boy (played by all the strings of the orchestra) who, with the help of a bird (played by the flute), outsmarted the big, bad wolf (played by the French horns). And now with this book and CD package, children can look and listen all at the same time. A new retelling by Janet Schulman follows the basic story, but with a kinder ending for both the big bad wolf and the argumentative duck. Peter Malone’s paintings have the luminous quality of old Russian masters. The CD, with music performed by the Cincinnati Pops and word-for-word narration by Peter A. Thomas, was made exclusively for this book and CD package. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Love It
It brought me back to when I was a little girl and saw the actual ballet at the NY Ballet.I listened to it several times and gifted it to another little girl named Sasha .

A for illustrations, D for text, B+ for audio narration
I agree that there is no reason to change the ending of the story and it is weaker for it.However, the illustrations are terrific, and I haven't been able to find many options for a Peter and the Wolf illustrated book that are not 'cartoon-ish'.The audio narration is also quite good so I'd give that a B+.

Excellent Production
Excellent production both for children and adults.
The book by itself is excellent, the music alone is excellent, and the combination is a winner.
Without book or music, my 3 year old grandson can recite the whole book and also imitate the musical instruments during his recitation

Peter and the Wolf
We recently were able to see the play version at a local children's theater and my daughter became hooked on the music and story line.After weeks of downloading the music on line, we finally bought her this book, and I'm so glad we did!The music is beautiful, and she is able to identify all the characters by the music playing and identify the instruments.We like the gentler story line, as our 4 year old frightens easily.This is a great buy!

love it
my daughter just loves this book, I think the music could be a little shorter in length between pages, but she doesn't seem to mind. ... Read more

Product Description
The prolific creator of such classic popular works as Romeo and Juliet, Peter and the Wolf, and Cinderella, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was one of the most important and influential composers of the twentieth century.In this definitive biography of Prokofiev, Harlow Robinson provides a richly detailed portrait of a man whose complex character, like his music, combined the traditional and the contemporary in odd and unexpected ways.

Drawing on unprecedented access to previously unknown or unavailable Russian-language sources, including extensive archival material, Robinson traces Prokofiev's extraordinary life from the fairy-tale world of Czarist Russia, through his many years abroad in America and Europe, to his perlexing permanent return to Moscow in 1936 under the Soviet Regime.That Prokofiev died on the very day as Josef Stalin, his principal persecutor, was the final irony of his intense and enigmatic career. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

One of the best biographies you will ever read
While I will always love his 5th & 6th symphonies, the 2nd & 3rd piano concerti, and his piano sonatas, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) is not my very favorite composer. There are large swaths of his oeuvre that frankly leave me cold, and while very gifted, the quality of his work was very inconsistent throughout his career. Having read a number of books on Dmitri Shostakovich, and having appreciated Harlow Robinson's liner notes for the Shostakovich quartet cycle on the Essay label, I decided to give this book a chance. I have now "flown" through it twice, and can confidently say this is one of the best-researched, well-written, and downright most-fascinating biographies I have ever read.

Readers looking for a fawning hagiography are advised to look elsewhere. While Robinson focuses on the composer's work (with a special emphasis on the operas), there is no effort to whitewash his self-centeredness and very difficult personality. Stories of Prokofiev's coldness and cruelty are legion. One wonders how he would have fared in today's world with the same talents, but having to continually toe the line of political correctness and "market" himself. Prokofiev, while he mellowed in his later years, simply did not care what other people thought, and was not shy about saying what was on his mind. Paradoxically, he worked all his life to appease those who commissioned works from him, to say nothing of the powers that be in Soviet Russia. Robinson devotes much discussion to the ideological attacks of Stalin and Zhdanov in early 1948, after the composer's health was already in decline. Prokofiev's response, he writes, was "neither a complete apology, nor a statement of indignant rebellion." Obsessed with his music, Prokofiev was apolitical and mostly indifferent to what was going on around him during those historically significant times. Robinson quotes the composer Alfred Schnittke on Prokofiev: "He attempted to overcome the apocalyptic break in 20th century history with the cold composure of an athlete; it was as if he did not hear and did not see the approach of a destructive slaughter unprecendented in history."

This biography is quite a page-turner and moves very quickly without bogging down in technical jargon or historical minutiae. Robinson does an outstanding job in presenting the facts, telling the story, and keeping personal conjecture out. He expects his readers to have a working understanding of the times, eras, and personages involved, and in analyzing Prokofiev's works, he makes fair and accurate observations without descending into self-impressed pedagogy. Originally issued in 1987 and now reissued in 2002, this updated version can truly be described as definitive, an agenda-free treasure among composer biographies. Highly recommended.

AN EXCELLENT, DETAILED BIOGRAPHY OF THE COMPOSER
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) is the subject of this excellent biography by a professor of literature; it is accordingly much more of a biography and less of a "musical analysis" than many such "biographies" of composers are---and in this case, I think the difference is a "plus."

Robinson offers many insightful views of Prokofiev: "His music might be filled with 'wrong notes,' but it was resolutely tonal all the same; he might fill sonatas with dissonances and shocking rhythms, but he still called them sonatas and wanted them to be considered as such.He stretched the limits of traditional musical forms with a mischievous glee, much as he tested the patience of his teachers.""This frenetic level of activity seems to have been an attempt to avoid a confrontation with silence or his subconscious; he was never a particularly reflective individual." He also notes that "Unlike so many Russian composers before him, Prokofiev never wrote a single explicitly religious setting---no requiems, vespers, choruses or pieces of the Russian Orthodox liturgy."Considering his works for children, Robinson comments, that "he never forgot what it meant to be a child, and how children think, is evident in the playful but never condescending music he wrote for them."

"Beginning in the fall of 1909, Prokofiev was on his own as a composer: ... this was probably to Prokofiev's advantage, for his professors objected to that which was most original about his music." However, he avoided "movements" or "styles" in music: "he avoided joining any circles or identifying himself with any movements."In 1914, "He was still a bad boy, but a brilliant and assured one."

His relationship with Stravinsky is chronicled in several parts of the book: "Prokofiev's lack of social diplomacy was only one of the factors that complicated the difficult and mercurial relationship between the two composers." "As for Stravinsky, Prokofiev could not--or did not want to---appreciate fully his talent and significance.""Prokofiev and Stravinsky continued to encounter each other socially and professionally, but their fates were diverging.Incomprehensible to Stravinsky was Prokofiev's intense desire to maintain contact with the Soviet musical world; he considered Prokofiev's grasp of politics underdeveloped and sadly naive."Furthermore, "Prokofiev did not regard Shostakovich's music with particular enthusiasm."By way of contrast, "Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev would develop a relationship of mutual respect, if not friendship."

In his autobiography, Prokofiev observed, "Moving to Paris does not mean becoming a Parisian."No matter how long he remained abroad, he always considered himself a Russian.And ultimately in 1935, he moved back to the Soviet Union for good (against his wife's wishes), and Robinson says that "Prokofiev's 'Russian-mindedness'--not money---was the most important motivating force behind his momentous move."He also ultimately left his wife for another woman (without trying to get his first wife out of the USSR first), although they never married.

This is a wonderful biography of Prokofiev, and is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for fans of Prokofiev.

Riveting, and thorough
Thoroughly researched, well written, concise and to the point, full of facinating details -- this is a masterly biography of Prokofiev.I was riveted to this book from the first page to the last.

The Mind and Music of Prokofiev
Harlow Robinson spent years in Soviet Russia researching Prokofiev during the height of the Cold War.His research does not just include manuscripts and letters but also involves many personal conversations with those who knew Prokofiev and even with those who persecuted Prokofiev.As a result he navigates his way through Prokofiev's life with that added dimension of relating personally to those events.Robinson's writing is interesting and warm without being too academic or dry.This book seems to be intended for any real fan of Prokofiev.Lastly, this book really strives to explain some of the perplexities of Prokofiev's decisions. In particular, Robinson strives to explain why Prokofiev needed to return to Russia after his extended residence in Paris.This book is well worth the time to read.

popular biography that brings rewards
Robinson's is a useful popular biography of Prokofiev that is better researched and better written than any other English language bio of the great composer.Equal measure is given to Prokofiev's time in the West, and to his life after returning to Russia. There's much that's interesting here - a persistent exploration of Prokofiev's quixotic relationship with Diaghilev, generous delving into the composer's personal life, including especially some revealing passages on the almost uncharacteristic affection Prokofiev lavished on his children, and a resonant view of his work habits.Prokofiev's career disappointments were many, some even tragic, and the author doesnt beat around the bush, but the admirable thread of fierce devotion maintained by Prokofiev toward his own unquenchable musical purpose is thoughtfully argued by Robinson throughout the book, indeed it's one its strengths.The author even notes details of some of Prokofiev's foppish Parisian clothing that helped start him off on the wrong foot on his return to Russia.There are a number of subtle moments like that where one can discern the winning hand of a committed biographer.The importance of Prokofiev's canon of works is denied a hearing for the most part, but the book suffers little for that.The useful appendices include a chronology and a catalogue (by genre) of the composer's works, in addition to a healthy bibliography.I recommend this book for anyone just taking up the subject of Prokofiev.Listening again to the seventh Piano Sonata would perhaps serve more succinctly for the already initiated. ... Read more

Product Description
Since its premiere in 1936, Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf has become a classic beloved by generations of children and adults. For this enchanting new version of the story, Bono and his childhood friend Gavin Friday have collaborated on a stunning boxed set that includes a clothbound book and enhanced CD. The beautifully produced hardback book contains 64 pages of Bono's original paintings-with help from his daughters Jordan and Eve-to illustrate the story. And the enhanced CD features a fresh and funny rendition of the musical score, narrated in a sly and hilarious reading by Gavin Friday and performed by the Seezer Ensemble. Royalties from the project will benefit the Irish Hospice Foundation.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Peter and the Wolf
Wonderful!A delightful story with interesting illustrations.A fresh change from the typical children's book.Accompanying CD brilliant.Highly recommended.

Wonderful package (CD, Book)
My husband bought this to share with our seven year old and he had fun following along while his dad turned the pages.
I took it to my preschool class and shared it during storytime one day and they loved it. It held their attention and was entertaining to them.

The illustrations are not too wild for children. They are very child-like.
Anything that has double enterder is for adult minds, not theirs.

I recommend it as a wonderfully narrated, musically accompanied and interestingly illustrated adventure.

For Adult Bono Fans or can be adapted for children...
"Beware... for wolves come in many disquises."

Peter lives with his grandfather in a cottage surrounded by a high stone wall near a deep, dark forest. In the story we meet a number of animals. The story is read by Irish musician, Gavin Friday, who has a very enjoyable sensuous voice.

To make this book kid friendly (from my teacherish perspective), I'd recommend glueing the first cat picture page shut. You could buy one for the kids and one as a collector item - so if you object, the problem can be easily remedied. I just think it is a little too suggestive for younger children (unless they are used to art museums, then they won't blink an eye), although adults will easily see the double meaning of the book's contents that seems to deal with temptation and being swallowed up by darkness. The other pictures seem fine.

The duck with the bill that extends out like a cross seems to be in contrast with the first bird that looks more like a dove. I took it to mean you should live your beliefs instead of just making them a show. Pretty clever to show that in an illustration so subtely.The dove and the cat also contrast sharply and the meaning is very clear.

Bono's illustrations are beautiful and he drew the pictures with the help of his children. I purchased this for a collector friend and couldn't help myself, I read it first and listened to the CD. For some reason, I thought Bono would be reading the story.

My dad heard me listening to this in the office and thought it would be fun to listen to on Halloween. There are fun elements of suspense throughout the music and now and then it gets a "little" scarry.

For adults who heard the music as children, the combination of the music and the story makes the story much more meaningful.

~The Rebecca Review

Peter and the wolf
This CD and book set is absolutely wonderful. Maurice Seezer and Gavin Friday have done a fantastic job of the musical arrangements and Gavin's voice is perfect. The illustrations by Bono and his two girls are perfect, it just shows how talented they all are. I have purchased this as a gift that my 18 month old daughter will hopefully have foreverand I will make sure that I also get a copy for my soon-to-be-born son.

Highly recommended!
When I was a little girl I loved to listen to the story of Peter and the Wolf.As an adult, I have grown to love celtic music and traditional Irish instruments.So when this set came out I was eager to purchase it -- and I was thrilled with what I got.

The music is beautifully performed by the Friday-Seezer ensemble.Each instrument comes alive as the animal it is supposed to represent.While the music is definitely Prokofiev (no doubt about that) it has an Irish flavor that is just enchanting.

Although I wasn't too keen on the pictures when I viewed them on a website, I thought they worked wonderfully in this book accompanied by the music.

And last, but not least, Gavin Friday cannot get enough credit for his wonderful narration of the story.

All in all, the story is whimsical and fun, just like I remembered it to be.I agree with the other reviewer that it would be nice if the book were larger, but aside from that I have nothing but praise for this set. ... Read more

Product Description
With Piano Reduction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Complete and Compact
This Boosey & Hawks study score is ideal for study because it is compact enough to carry in your pocket and small enough to be easily read in most any situation- I studied it while in airplanes and on city busses, for example.The English text in this edition is not credited (the author of the Spanish translation is identified, interestingly enough,) but it is a somewhat updated version when compared to the English text in the Schermer edition (which I believe is Prokofiev's own translation, and is therefore somewhat outdated and "quaint.")I like this English text for contemporary usage.I found this score quite easy to follow, and it served as an invaluable guide when studying the piece for performance.(Due to its small scale, I did find my reading glasses to be a necessity :-) ... Read more

Product Description
Op. 2 - Four Etudes (D minor, E minor, C minor, C minor)
* Op. 3 - Four Pieces (Story, Bandinage, March, Phantom)
* Op. 4 - Four Pieces (Reminiscence, Elan, Despair, Diabolic Suggestions)
* Op. 11 - Toccata in C Major ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Please, Sergei, not another f-sharp!
Though, in general, I could not agree more with the previous reviewer's abhorence of the note f-sharp - I for one would love to see Mr. Prokofiev further explore the use of the vastly underrated note g-flat, I could not disagree more with his enthusiasm for Mr. Prokofiev's first piece.What is here to love?What is its great attraction - its naivite, its sophoristic cleverness, its innocuous unctuousness?My only regret is that he had already published it before it was too late - certainly second thoughts that would have led to aan appropriate final resting place in the living room fireplace were to arrive not too soon after that fateful day.And as for being a babe-magnet, the chicks today are much too sophisticated.No longer are women swooning at the mere intonation of that previously-thought-to-be dangerous f-sharp.Sure, we men all regret the day when a couple of deftly composed f-sharps would throw a woman into one's arms, and have her throw caution to the wind - life was so simple then.But today's modern 21st-century woman is way beyond that.Today, no single sexy note will do.For this I recommend, Mr. P's seventh.Sure that old-fashioined f-sharp is still present, but now the chromatic approach says:"yes, or course I'm unctuous - but in a good way."And those d-flats!!!Those show the depths of one's inner nature.And finally a g-flat!!!So delicious.We can only thankful that Mr. P lived long enough to finally see the light and incorporate that most luminous of notes - the g-flat - into his compositional bag of tricks.

I bought a piano for this????!!!
First of all let me preface my review by saying that I loved the author's first work. Loved it. However, this is not the author's first work. I don't know what Sergei was smoking, or who he was smoking it with, but it fried the parts of his brain responsible for plot and character development. First of all he spends way too much time with f sharp. I mean it's constantly f this or f that and always sharp, never flat or just plain f. Too many freakin' f's. I can say one good thing about the 'Complete Piano Sonats'. It did get me away from the computer. Unfortunately it didn't create anywhere near the stir amongst the ladies that was promised in the infomercial.
In conclusion: buy this only if you enjoy playing music on the piano more than I do. ... Read more

Product Description
In this first comprehensive analytical study of the music of Sergei Prokofiev, Minturn sets the prolific Russian composer`s work in historical, cultural, and biographical contexts. He examines a variety of Prokofiev`s compositions for piano, orchestra, chamber ensembles, and voice from a sophisticated theoretical point of view and finds throughout these works an enduring central theme of the interplay between tradition and innovation. ... Read more

Product Description
Collected Works of Sergei Prokofiev series published by Belwin Mills Publishing Corp. in the 1970s. This volume contains Op. 68: Three Children's Songs; Op. 73: Three Romances; Op. 79: Seven Mass Songs and Op. 89/2: The Song of the Brave (A. Surkov). Pages are numbered 183 to 232, 50 pages plus Table of Contents. Table of Contents is in English. All song text on scores in Russian, cyrillic alphabel only. There are NO translations. Belwin Mills number: Pr. Lib. No. 5020. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the most important and influential composers of the twentieth century, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was also a prolific and gifted writer.Besides producing diaries, short stories, dramas, reviews, and the libretti for his own operas, Prokofiev conducted lively and frequent correspondence with family friends, classmates, and notable cultural figures in the Soviet Union and abroad.

This engaging volume collects for the first time in English the most representative and enlightening of Prokofiev's letters, including some previously suppressed missives that have never before been published.Expertly translated and annotated by Harlow Robinson, the correspondence presented here covers Prokofiev's earliest years at St. Petersburg Conservatory, his extensive worldwide travels, and his return to Moscow.Among the correspondents are childhood friend Vera Alpers, harpist Eleonora Damskaya, ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev, theatrical director Vsevolod Meyerhold, Soviet critic Boris Asafiev, composers Vernon Duke and Nikolai Miaskovsky, soprano Nina Koshetz, musicologist Nicolas Slonimsky, violinist Jascha Heifetz, conductor Serge Koussevitsky, and film director Sergei Eisenstein.

Prokofiev vividly describes, often with dramatic flair and a quirky sense of humor, concerts, performances, his compositions, political events, and meetings with other musicians and composers.His observations are peppered with musical gossip as well as eccentric, original, and disarmingly apolitical insights.Like his music, the writing style is laconic, brisk and tart, full of energy.

Taken together, the letters provide a cultural and musical history unequaled in the correspondence of any other modern composer.This indispensable edition will shed new light on Prokofiev's misunderstood life and career, illuminate his creative processes and aesthetic principles, and introduce his exceptional literary talents to those already captivated by his musical genius. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Commande
Je veux acheter ce livre. Comment je peux le commander depuis la France ... Read more

Product Description
This distinguished edition from Dr. Murray Baylor includes works that Prokofiev composed for solo piano plus Prokofiev's own piano transcription of works he had written for the symphony orchestra or the stage. Within its 80 pages you will find the sprightly ""Diabolic Suggestion,"" Op. 4, No. 4, the virtuoso ""Toccata,"" Op. 11, ""Prelude,"" Op. 12, No. 7 and ""March"" and ""Scherzo"" from ""The Love for Three Oranges,"" Op. 33B. ... Read more

Product Description
Includes these selections from Prokofiev's 1938 ballet: Minuet (Arrival of the Guests), Balcony Scene, Romeo and Juliet Meet Father Lorenzo, Dance of the Knights. ... Read more

Product Description
Text in German, Russian and English. ... Read more

Product Description
Piano part, 2 pp.; Cello part, 1 p. Measures 12 inches x 9 inches. ... Read more

Product Description
Sergei Prokofiev was a bold innovator who eschewed the beaten path in art all his life, often in definance of orthodox tastes.His compositions, many of which are today recognized masterpieces of musical art, usually evoked either genuine bewilderment or sharp criticism when first performed.

Prokofiev's music is performed today all over the world; his works are studied at music schools everywhere.

The first two parts of this book are devoted to the composer's own writings (his autobiographical notes, articles and reviews), the rest to articles about Prokofiev by prominent Soviet musicians, artists, and others who were associated with him at one or another period of his life. ... Read more