David Bowie narrates Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf & The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

It’s one of classical music’s most familiar texts for younger listeners, and Prokofiev’s combined folktale and children’s orchestral primer is a beguiling match for David Bowie’s sonorous voice and theatrically reserved delivery. The Philadelphia Orchestra play those swooningly familiar themes with vim and sparkle, more than matching Bowie’s elfish narration, which is warm, bewitching, and told with stately calm (“The Bird”), with the occasional sharp edge (“The Wolf”) as the drama demands it.