Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf
Released on May 22, 2026
This recording of Sergei Prokofiev’s popular Peter and the Wolf – captured live in a performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel at the iconic Hollywood Bowl on July 15, 2021 – highlights the Russian composer’s enormous gift for colorful storytelling.
This magical and dramatic account of the classic tale – brilliantly narrated by Oscar®-, Emmy®-, and two time Tony®-winning actress and producer Viola Davis – marked a joyous return to live music after lengthy lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Without fuss or exaggeration,” wrote the Los Angeles Times, “the celebrated actress was on mark with a clever subtle edge … For Dudamel, every instrument, not just the flute/bird, clarinet/cat, bassoon/grandfather, became a living being.”
Listen to Peter and the Wolf:
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Track Listing
- I. Introduction – This Is the Story of Peter and the Wolf
- II. Early One Morning Peter Opened the Gate
- III. On a Branch of a Big Tree Sat a Little Bird
- IV. Just Then a Duck Came Waddling Round
- V. Suddenly, Something Caught Peter's Attention
- VI. Grandfather Came Out
- VII-IX. No Sooner Had Peter Gone, Than a Big Grey Wolf Came Out of the Forest
- X. And Now, This Is How Things Stood
- XI. In the Meantime, Peter, Without the Slightest Fear, Stood Behind the Closed Gate
- XII. Peter Said to the Bird “Fly Down and Circle the Wolf's Head”
- XIII. Meanwhile, Peter Made a Lasso
- XIV. Just Then the Hunters Came Out of the Woods
- XV. But Peter Sitting in the Tree Said “Don't Shoot...Help Us Take Him to the Zoo”
- XVI. (And there…) Imagine the Triumphant Procession to the Zoo
- XVII. And If One Would Listen Very Carefully He Would Hear the Duck Quacking Inside the Wolf
About the Composer:
Before the Russian Revolution, Sergei Prokofiev shocked the St. Petersburg musical establishment as an enfant terrible. He quickly joined the European avant-garde in the ’20s and ’30s – his 1923 opera The Fiery Angel was so advanced that it remained unperformed until after his death. The Soviet Union scored a major coup when Prokofiev returned for good in 1936. The composer weathered the persecution of composers in the late ’30s and the trauma of World War II, only to die on the same day as Stalin – March 5, 1953.