Maestro Classics { Peter and the Wolf Review}

We were recently given the chance to review Peter and the Wolf ( physical CD ) from Maestro Classics.  Maestro Classics began when a conductor, Stephen Simon, and an executive director of an orchestra, Bonnie Ward Simon, from the Kennedy Center had a son. Their son favorited books and music over toys. Maestro Classics began in 2004 in Washington, DC.
Peter and the Wolf is the story of a young boy named Peter who disobeys his grandfather and climbs over the garden wall. After climbing the garden wall Peter encounters a wolf. With the help of his friends-a duck, a cat and a bird- Peter is able to capture the wolf and take it to a zoo. Included with the CD are:

• A biography of the composer Sergei Prokofiev
• The conductor letting you know what to listen for in the music 
• A new recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra 
• A bonus track that has just the music and no narration 
• A Russian trio playing folk instruments
• Dance along to the famous Russian folk melody
• 24 page activity book

Another great feature is after you are done listening to Peter and the Wolf CD, there is a downloadable curriculum to go along with the music CD. The curriculum covers topics such as Math, Language Arts, History, Music, Art, Geography, and Science. 

What we thought:

Monster and I both opened up the Peter and the Wolf CD and checked it out. We started by flipping through the 24 page activity book. We found some fun activities in there such as matching the instrument with each animal that it is in the story. There is also a cute little dot to dot activity and a crack the code activity. Monsters favorite ones though were the word search and the crossword puzzles they included in the book. 

When we first listened to Peter and the Wolf CD I had Monster sit on the couch and listen to whole thing while doing nothing else. I wanted him to focus just on the story and listen to how the instruments made the story. Monster really enjoyed just sitting and listening to the story and the music. He told me it was fun trying to create the pictures in his mind and it was exciting when you could tell what was happening with the sounds of the music. 

After letting him listen to it that way, I then kept the Peter and the Wolf CD in the player and let him listen to it at random. I also would play it when we needed it to be calmer in the house. Monster does well with listening to music also while working. This CD is great for that because the music is fun yet relaxing too. 

Monster has really enjoyed the Peter and the Wolf CD and is already asking for others! 

Right now Maestro Classics has 12 CDs to choose from:

• Peter and the Wolf
• The Nutcracker
• Casey at Bat
• The Story of Swan Lake
• Carnival of Animals
• The Solider's Tale 
• The Sorcerers Apprentice
• Merry Pranks of Master Hill
• The Tortoise and the Hare
• My Name is Handel: The Story of Water Music
• Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel
• Juanita La Langosta Espanola

You can buy each CD for $16.98 or you can buy the box set which includes all 12 CDs for $150 ( this is actually a sale price right now!) 

If you would like to find out more about Maestro Classics, please find them on their social media accounts:

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