Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew Review – The Tortoise and the Hare by Maestro Classics

December 20, 2009

We received this CD in the mail just as we were to go for a bit of a road trip – perfect timing!

I popped it into the CD player and we all had a great time listening to the beautiful music, the interesting story, and the explanations of both story and music. My crew includes two boys, ages 10 and 3 and two girls, ages 5 and 1. They all loved it. My oldest learned quite a bit about the composition of the music and the story itself. Even my youngest was “dancing” in the backseat with a smile on her face.

The company who produced the CD, Maestro Classics, has put together CDs like this for other stories – Peter and the Wolf, Swan Lake, Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Casey at Bat, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Juanita the Spanish Lobster (in Spanish and English).

The product that I received to review was “The Tortoise and the Hare”. It is about 53 minutes in length. The music is performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and it is absolutely beautiful! Stephen Simon is the conductor, Yadu is the narrator and Bonnie Ward Simon, the elucidator. All together, they put on a brilliant performance.

Summary of the Story

Wearing fancy running shoes, Hare begins the race and, being far ahead, stops at a small French bistro for something to eat. Tortoise, played by the contrabassoon, trudges along and proves that “Slow and steady wins the race.” The classic tale is re-created for narrator and orchestra.

After the story is narrated to the music, we get a little lesson on the story – where it originated, about the author, etc. Then, the conductor himself steps up to talk quite a bit about the music. He really delves in to each character and the music as it was specifically written for that character. This is music theory at its best! The “Now That You Know a Little More” track is next which is story and accompanying music played again now that you have a better ear for the relationship between the music and the story.

Although “The Tortoise and the Hare” is not included in the samples, you can check out parts of two other CDs on the Maestro website.

Pricing

Each CD sells for $16.98 on the Maestro Classics website. You can purchase the Gift Set for “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” or “Casey at Bat” for $24.99. The “Mike” gift set includes the paperback book and the “Casey” gift set includes a full color poster of the famous poem.