Peter and the Wolf DVD 2011 Prokofiev / Royal Opera House / Royal Ballet Sinfonia / Conductor Paul Murphy / BBC - Opus Arte

UPC 809478010579

MADE IN UK

REGION 0 NTSC DVD (ALL REGIONS)

AUDIO: DTS 5.1  LPCM 2.0

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, German

TOTAL RUNTIME: 30 minutes

English Summary:

Choreographer Matthew Hart's version of Prokofiev's musical fairy tale, recorded live with members of the Royal Ballet School, at the Royal Opera House in December 2010. 

Peter and the Wolf (Russian: Пе́тя и волк, tr. "Pétya i volk", IPA: [ˈpʲetʲə i volk]) Op. 67, a "symphonic fairy tale for children", is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a children's story, while the orchestra illustrates it by using different instruments to play a "theme" that represents each character in the story. It is Prokofiev's most frequently performed work and one of the most frequently performed works in the entire classical repertoire.

Peter, a Young Soviet Pioneer, lives at his grandfather's home in a forest clearing. One day, Peter goes out into the clearing, leaving the garden gate open, and the duck that lives in the yard takes the opportunity to go swimming in a pond nearby. The duck and another bird argue on whether a proper bird should be able to swim or fly. Peter's pet cat stalks them quietly, and the bird—warned by Peter—flies to safety in a tall tree while the duck swims to safety in the middle of the pond.

Before long, Peter's grandfather scolds him for being outside and playing in the meadow alone because a wolf might come out of the forest and attack him. When Peter shows defiance, believing he has nothing to fear from wolves, his grandfather takes him back into the house and locks the gate. Soon afterwards a ferocious wolf does indeed come out of the forest. The cat quickly climbs into the tree with the bird, but the duck, who has jumped out of the pond, is chased, overtaken, and swallowed by the wolf.

Seeing all of this from inside, Peter fetches a rope and climbs over the garden wall into the tree. He asks the bird to fly around the wolf's head to distract him, while he lowers a noose and catches the wolf by his tail. The wolf struggles to get free, but Peter ties the rope to the tree and the noose only gets tighter.

Sergey Prokofiev
PETER AND THE WOLF

The Wolf - Sergei Polunin
Grandfather - Will Kemp
Peter - Kilian Smith
Duck - Charlotte Edmonds
Bird - Laurine Muccioli
Cat - Chisato Katsura

Royal Ballet
Royal Ballet Sinfonia
Paul Murphy, conductor

Matthew Hart, choreographer
Ian Spurling, set and costume designer