Clinton Narrates Wolf-Friendly Peter and the Wolf

Reuters ^ | Aug 29, 2003

[Spruce]

Clinton Narrates Wolf-Friendly Peter and the Wolf

Fri August 29, 2003 06:56 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sergei Prokofiev's musical fairy tale Peter and the Wolf is popular with children but not with wolf lovers, and two former world leaders -- Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev -- aim to put that right in a new recording.

They have teamed up in a new recording that couples the tale with a contemporary version featuring the same two protagonists but a very different ending.

Prokofiev's version ends with Peter capturing the wolf and leading a triumphant procession to the zoo, paining music-loving environmentalists with romantic visions of wolves in the wild.

In the new version, narrated by former U.S. president Clinton and called Wolf Tracks, Peter again captures the wolf, but this time repents of his act and releases the animal, who howls a grateful goodbye.

"Forgetting his triumph, Peter thought instead of fallen trees, parched meadows, choked streams, and of each and every wolf struggling for survival," Clinton narrates.

"The time has come to leave wolves in peace," he adds.

French composer Jean-Pascal Beintus wrote the score for the new wolf-friendly version while former Soviet leader Gorbachev provides an introduction and epilogue.

"In Prokofiev's classic, man dominates, but Wolf Tracks expresses quite different values of balance and tolerance. All of us hope for a future where these values are lived every day," Gorbachev said.

Italian actress Sophia Loren narrates Prokofiev's traditional tale, which features the Russian National Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano. It is to be released on the PentaTone Classics label on Sept. 23.

Part of the proceeds will go to the New York-based Wolf Conservation Center, which supports the reintroduction of wolves into the wild.

The accompanying booklet includes an article supposedly written by a wolf.

"On behalf of all wolves, I would like to thank Kent Nagano and the Russian National Orchestra, Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev and Sophia Loren for coming together to make this recording," the wolf writes.

[Spruce]

When will he go away?

[TomServo]

Now Peter and the Monica, I could understand...

[KarlInOhio]

Now Peter and the Monica, I could understand...

Because of that thought, I am now repulsed by all wind instruments.

[KarlInOhio]

Wolf bussing?

[StarCMC]

I suppose next we'll have a revisionist Bible where Jesus actually doesn't die but is just taking a snooze at the crucifixion scene. Wait...I think someone already did that!! These folks are morons.

[Eala]

Because of that thought, I am now repulsed by all wind instruments.

Say it isn't so!

[TexasNative2000]

Next, Clinton will re-write the story of Noah and the Flood.

It was actually the ANIMALS who warned Noah to build an ark. The animals sent the flood to destroy all of the carnivore heathens who populated the land. Noah and his family were vegans, so they were spared.

[ClearCase_guy]

All your traditions must be destroyed. All your institutions must be reduced to rubble. All your art must be debased and bowdlerized. We must must make the Great Leap Forward. Trust us -- we're Progressive.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

This seems like something IowaHawk might write - yet it has a Reuters byline. Has IowaHawk gone over to the dark side?

[finnman69]

"Clinton will soon be repeating his narrating gig providing the voice of the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. Pamela Anderson is to voice Miss Hood."

[Grig]

"In the new version, narrated by former U.S. president Clinton and called Wolf Tracks, Peter again captures the wolf, but this time repents of his act and releases the animal, who howls a grateful goodbye..."

...before ripping out Peter's throat and dining on his flesh.

Liberalism only works in fairy tales.

[rockrr]

This should be an easy one for the sink-meister.....he doesn't have to work to get into character.

(a thousand pardons to self-respecting wolves the world over)

[fortunecookie]

And people will buy it and eat it up. Accolades all around.

[nkycincinnatikid]

What ! NO pictures of Sophia Loren?

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Bent Peter And The Wolf?

[fortunecookie]

All your traditions must be destroyed. All your institutions must be reduced to rubble. All your art must be debased and bowdlerized. We must must make the Great Leap Forward. Trust us -- we're Progressive.

And the sheeple flock to their new messiah, waiting unthinkingly for the next directive. It's already affected and altered our schools, churches and entertainment like a bad computer virus. And like Solzhenitzyn lamented in the old Soviet Union, few realize it or try to fight it.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Or should it be "Bent Peter And The Woof"?

[New Horizon]

...or "Wolf the Bent Peter"...

[GulliverSwift]

Good post. BTT.

[bert]

Da Da ta Dant Dant da, ta dant dant da......

one of my very best favorites, forever soiled.