Revisiting a holiday classic: Peter and the Wolf gets an edit

Prokoviev's tale about a young man who captures a wolf is a children's holiday classic. But how to handle stories like this one at a time when capturing a wolf by its tail, parading it in triumph through the city, and then locking it up in the local zoo isn't likely to be seen as an act of clemency by audiences?

Transcript

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

The holidays are around the corner. Yes, it's true. It's the time of year many of us take pleasure in revisiting classics with the family like Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" or "The Nutcracker." One perennial favorite for many is "Peter And The Wolf." NPR's own culture correspondent Chloe Veltman has a personal connection with the holiday classic that is getting a little deeper this year. So we figured we'd get her on the line to talk about it. Hey, Chloe.

CHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE: Hi there, Scott.

DETROW: For a listener who is not as familiar as you with "Peter And The Wolf," remind us what it is.

VELTMAN: So it's this very widely performed orchestral work. It was written in the 1930s by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. And there's a narrator up on stage who tells the story of this kid, Peter, who captures a wolf, and the orchestra plays along with the story. Families love this because it's like the OG of musical instrument petting zoo, Scott. Each character in the story is represented by different instruments from the orchestra.

DETROW: Can you give us the pleasure of walking us through some of the examples of that?

VELTMAN: Sure. So our hero Peter is represented by the string section.

DETROW: (Vocalizing).

(SOUNDBITE OF RUSSIAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE OF SERGEI PROKOFIEV'S "PETER'S THEME (PETER AND THE WOLF)")

VELTMAN: Yeah, it's a lovely theme. And then you have the French horns with their dark sound, bringing the wolf to life.

(SOUNDBITE OF RUSSIAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE OF SERGEI PROKOFIEV'S "WOLF'S THEME (PETER AND THE WOLF)")

VELTMAN: It's very ominous, isn't it?

DETROW: Yeah.

VELTMAN: Yeah. But my very favorite creature in this work is the duck, which is represented by the oboe.

(SOUNDBITE OF RUSSIAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE OF SERGEI PROKOFIEV'S "DUCK'S THEME (PETER AND THE WOLF)")

VELTMAN: And Scott, that's the instrument I've played since I was 13 years old, and I took it up because I was inspired by this very piece.

DETROW: Really?

VELTMAN: Mm-hmm.

(SOUNDBITE OF RUSSIAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE OF SERGEI PROKOFIEV'S "DUCK'S THEME (PETER AND THE WOLF)")

VELTMAN: So I should mention that the clips that we're hearing from "Peter And The Wolf" are from the Russian national orchestra version of the piece from 2003 with the conductor Kent Nagano.

DETROW: This is your inspiration for learning the oboe. I have to imagine - did you get to play the duck yourself at one point?

VELTMAN: Oh, yeah, I have played the duck. It is quite a difficult solo in some ways because it's low down in the oboe's range, and there are some tricky fingerings. But I really love it. It's got so much character.

DETROW: Do we have to issue spoiler alerts as we discuss "Peter And The Wolf"? I guess I just did. We should point out this duck runs into some bad luck.

VELTMAN: Yes, that is true. It is an unlucky duck, unfortunately, because it gets swallowed whole by the wolf. But, you know, it doesn't actually die. The ending is ambiguous, so we hope it makes its way out eventually.

DETROW: You know, there are a lot of older stories, especially, that have to do with animals that when I read them or revisit them, sometimes there's some painful parts. That's the case here.

VELTMAN: That's absolutely right. There are some pretty challenging issues to grapple with in "Peter And The Wolf." So when I was invited by the Mill Valley Philharmonic, which is based in Marin County north of San Francisco, to narrate "Peter" for a couple of holiday family concerts this coming week, it had honestly been quite a while since I played or listened to the work, and I'd completely forgotten about the torture of the wolf at the end.

DETROW: Yeah. Remind us what happens.

VELTMAN: Yeah, so Peter captures the wolf by its tail, using a rope, and it pulls that rope tighter and tighter and then parades the animal in triumph through the town before it gets locked up at the zoo. And at one level, I suppose, this could be considered as a kind of an act of clemency because, after all, Peter does save the wolf from being killed by a group of hunters. Right. But you can see why someone who cares about animal rights might take issue with this.

DETROW: How do you think about that, then? - because you've been asked to narrate.

VELTMAN: Yeah.

DETROW: And you love this piece of work.

VELTMAN: I do love this piece of music, yeah. And it's an age-old question that you're asking in culture, Scott, you know, how to approach classics in one era that maybe we didn't question so much in a previous one owing to evolving ways of looking at the world. So, for example, some screenings of "It's A Wonderful Life," a lovely holiday classic, now come with disclaimers at movie theaters because of the suicidal theme in that, yeah. And so people are divided very much on this matter of how to handle the ending of "Peter And The Wolf." So on the one hand, many folks see art as the best place to take on tough subjects and not shy away from them. But there's also the other side of the argument to consider, and it says, times have changed, what was OK a few decades ago may not be OK today, so change it up already.

DETROW: How have people been changing up "Peter And The Wolf"?

VELTMAN: Well, Scott, productions change the ending of "Peter And The Wolf" in all sorts of ways. I heard about one recent performance by an orchestra in southern California where all the animals have a happy ending, even the wolf. The orchestra also inserted a new character into the story, a kindly park ranger. Now, another approach is to deflect the violence with humor. That's what "Weird Al" Yankovic does brilliantly in his version, though it's not totally family friendly in parts.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WEIRD AL YANKOVIC: (As Narrator) Hey, big bad wolf, said Peter. Why don't you come up here and get us now? I would, said the wolf. But well, I'm kind of tied up right now.

VELTMAN: (Laughter).

DETROW: Wow. "Weird Al" did "Peter And The Wolf." Who knew?

VELTMAN: Yeah, the work has attracted a lot of famous narrators over the years, including Sophia Loren, Viola Davis, Sting and even David Bowie.

DETROW: Did any of these other illustrious narrators change it up?

VELTMAN: No, they pretty much stuck to the traditional telling. Here's a clip from Bowie's version, for instance.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DAVID BOWIE: Don't shoot. Birdie and I have already caught the wolf. Now, help us take him to the zoo.

DETROW: OK, so you've laid out, keep it as it is; it's a classic. Change it up a little bit; it's a minor point in the end. What did the Mill Valley Philharmonic do?

VELTMAN: Well, we kind of hedged our bets, really. We're taking the middle way.

DETROW: Tell us about that.

VELTMAN: Well, we started by asking, how does it serve the story for the wolf to be treated so cruelly? And we decided it doesn't, and so that's enough of a reason to make some tweaks. At the same time, we felt like it's important to preserve Prokofiev's essential message with "Peter And The Wolf." It's an allegory celebrating the courage and resilience of Soviet youth in the face of danger. And at the same time, of course, the wolf is both a dangerous and an endangered creature. So we have decided to go with just a few subtle tweaks. Here's what the orchestra's music director, Dana Sadava, had to say about it.

DANA SADAVA: "Peter And The Wolf" is a masterpiece. It doesn't need an overhaul, and it really doesn't take much to update this piece for 21st century audiences.

VELTMAN: And ultimately, Scott, there are no right answers, really. I mean, there's a whole case to be made against staging works that glorify the exploits of Soviet youth at a time when Russia is at war with Ukraine. But we are doing the piece anyway, and it's a great one.

DETROW: It is. That's NPR culture correspondent Chloe Veltman. Thank you, Chloe, and break a leg.

VELTMAN: Thanks very much, Scott.

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