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Peter & the Wolf
In this stop motion animated adaptation by Susie Templeton, Peter is a sulky modern-day Russian boy living in poverty with his grandfather in a shack outside of a large metropolitan city.
The Kansas City Symphony Orchestra's Family Concert Series presented the legendaryPeter and the Wolf February 7th and 8th in two venues, at the Lyric on Saturday morning and the Carlsen Center at JCCC on Sunday evening. Both performances were packed as families from both sides of the state line enjoyed the well-loved Russian tale.
Prior to the concerts, children could participate in the Orchestra's famous instrument "petting zoo". The percussion, strings, woodwinds and brass were all represented by patient young helpers who assisted as the children eagerly tapped the snare drum, touched the bassoon, slid the trombone slide and scrubbed the strings of the cello in a multi sensory musical experience.
Assistant conductor, Steven Jarvi, took the podium, and the fanfare began. The Festive Overture, Op. 96 by Shostakovich was a wonderful opener and good preparation for the Prokofiev. Children were impressed by the power of the full orchestra and the piece included many musical contradictions, loud/soft, staccato/legato, high/low, fast/slow, that kids could hook into right away.
Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazde Op. 35 Largo e maesto was more challenging for the children. The slow tempo made my concert mate sleepy while others nearby got a little restless. Hearing music in a hall filled with children is interesting as one can almost feel a constant buzz of energy.
The final "warm-up" piece was one of the all time favorites of music teachers everywhere,In the Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg.
Then along came Peter.
In this stop motion animated adaptation by Susie Templeton, Peter is a sulky modern-day Russian boy living in poverty with his grandfather in a shack outside of a large metropolitan city. He isn't allowed to go out into the beautiful woods behind his house because his grandfather is overprotective. Through his own desire to "fly", he relates to the crow, which in this production has a broken wing, and follows the skinny duck, who meets a shocking end. It isn't all melancholy. There is humor and charm as grandfather's fat cat tries unsuccessfully to eat the little lame bird attached to a blue helium balloon. The new version has some surprising twists which makes the production fresh and interesting. Peter ultimately conquers his fear in a beautiful expression of humanity. As is the fashion these days in children's art, macabre forces downplay the sentimentality.
And then there is the music. When the KC Symphony strings begin 'Peter's theme' after the opening scene unfolds in stark silence, the entire tone of the production softened and the audience could collectively remember their own introduction to the piece in elementary school. This is still the story of a brave child defeating fear but with a gritty cinema verite edge.
There is no narrator explaining the themes and the orchestration has been subtly adapted to synch more closely with the action of the film, but it all works beautifully and the Symphony sounds fantastic.
After the performance the sponsors offered circus boxes filled with LaMars donut bits and fresh Shatto milk samples. Kid-friendly concerts beat common cartoons any Saturday morning.
Check out the Peter and the Wolf site at this link for downloads, trailers and information about how the movie was made. www.breakthrufilms.co.uk/uk/films/peter_and_the_wolf/downloads. Then make sure you don't miss the next Family Concert on Sunday, April 26th at 2 pm all about How the Gimquat Found Her Song.
REVIEW
Kansas City Symphony Family Concert Series
Peter and the Wolf
Saturday, February 7, 2009 at the Lyric Theatre
Sunday, February 8 , 2009 at the Carlsen Center at JCCC
www.kcsymphony.org
Classical, Vocal and Theatre Contributor
Megan Browne Helm grew up singing, dancing and acting. Inspired by Emma Kirkby as a high school student in St. Louis she went on to study voice and sing with the Collegium Musicum at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio where she also had a radio show of contemporary classical music on WOBC. At the University of Kansas she had the pleasure of working with former Kings’ Singer, Simon Carrington in his Collegium Musicum and Oread consort. Years later, she was a choral fellow at the Yale School of Music’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. She is currently singing with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus under the direction of Charles Bruffy.
As a freelance music and culture writer her work can be found on KCMetropolis.org, presentmagazine.com, the Lawrence Journal World, Shawnee Magazine, Leawood Lifestyle Magazine and KC Parent. She was one of 26 journalists in the country chosen as a NEA Institute Fellow for Classical Music and Opera at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Her current interest is how classical music remains relevant through active collaborations with artists in different fields, including science. She also sees a connection between classical music, travel and food as a way to engage all of the senses in a 360 degree cultural experience. She blogs at raworganum.wordpress.com.
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