476 3686

3

Carnival OF THE Animals 33’31

Music by Camille Saint-Saëns 1835-1921.

Words by Nick Enright 1950-2003.

CD1 [

1 Introduction 1’10

2 Royal March of the Lion 2’38

3 Hens and Roosters 1’17

4 Emus 1’08

5 Tortoises 1’57

6 The Elephant 2’07

7 Kangaroos 1’46

8 Aquarium 3’34

9 Character with Long Ears 1’18

0 Cuckoo Deep in the Woods 2’24

! Aviary 2’36

@ Pianists 2’39

£ Fossils 2’23

$ The Swan 3’38

% Finale 2’56

narratorsJustine Clarke

Jay Laga’aia

Georgie Parker

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra

Anna Goldsworthy piano]

Mark Kruger piano]

Janis Laurs cello $]

David Stanhope conductor

SEBASTIAN THE FOX 12’06

Music by George Dreyfus b.1928.

Words by Tim Burstall 1927-2004 ¢ and George Dreyfus.

^ Sebastian’s Theme Song 1’27

& The Doll’s House 2’11

* Playtime 1’42

( The Potter’s Wheel 1’41

) The Pieman 1’13

¡ The Jinker Ride 0’53

™ Lullaby 1’09

# The Chase 1’04

¢ Sebastian’s Theme Song 0’48

Justine Clarke narratorThe Birralee Blokes (Paul Holley musical director) ¢]

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

Kenneth Young conductor

4 5

PETER AND THE WOLF 26’38

Music and words by Sergei Prokofiev 1891-1953.

CD2 [

1 Introduction 2’03

2 The story begins… 4’40

3 The Cat 1’47

4 Grandfather 2’18

5 The Wolf 3’11

6 And now, this is how things stood… 1’40

7 In the meantime… 4’24

8 The Hunters 2’07

9 The Procession 4’29

Jay Laga’aia narratorTasmanian Symphony Orchestra

Kenneth Young conductor

BABAR THE ELEPHANT [27’36

Music by Francis Poulenc 1899-1963,

orchestrated by Jean Françaix 1912-1997.

Original French words by Jean de Brunhoff 1899-1937;

English version by Nelly Rieu.

0 The Story of Babar 2’52

! Ride on Mother’s Back 2’26

@ Babar Comes to a Town 2’27

£ Babar’s Life with the Old Lady 2’54

$ Arthur and Celeste 1’49

% The Search for Arthur and Celeste 1’22

^ Babar Returns to the Forest 2’44

& The Bad Mushroom 1’45

* The New King 2’14

6 7

Carnival OF THE Animals

Camille Saint-Saëns didn’t want anyone to hear his Carnival of the Animals, except for a few of his

good friends – at least, not while he was still alive. He was a composer who took his reputation

very seriously, and he knew that the Carnival would make people laugh – as indeed it does,

thanks to all the musical jokes he worked into it! Saint-Saëns was on holidays at the time,

taking time out from writing his massive (and very serious) Organ Symphony. Relaxing in a

small village in Austria, he created these musical snapshots for the sheer fun of it.

He originally wrote his ‘Grand Zoological Fantasy’ for a small group of instruments, just two

violins and one each of viola, cello, double bass, flute, piccolo and clarinet, plus a few surprises: a

xylophone, two pianos, and a glass harmonica – a bizarre instrument that produces its sound in

much the same way as a damp finger rubbing the edge of a wine glass. Nowadays the Carnival is

usually performed by a full orchestra, adding even more colour to Saint-Saëns’ brilliant

characterisations.

Sometimes it’s the sounds of the instruments themselves which paint the picture: the double

bass doubling as an elephant, quicksilver ripples from the pianos in ‘Aquarium’, or the

clattering of fossil bones from the xylophone. Sometimes it’s the shape of the music: hopping

kangaroos, elegantly gliding swans, trilling birds. And sometimes Saint-Saëns slips in musical

jokes to underline the point: the tortoise, for example, trundles along to the strains of

Offenbach’s famous can-can in super slow motion.

( Babar Speaks to Cornelius 1’54

) The Wedding of Babar 1’44

¡ After the Wedding 1’04

™ Night Falls 2’22

Georgie Parker narratorTasmanian Symphony Orchestra

Kenneth Young conductor

8 9

11

When Saint-Saëns died, in 1935, his Carnival was at last set free to delight the wider world. The

idea of putting words to the music came in 1949, when the American poet Ogden Nash wrote a

set of humorous verse to introduce each movement; the music still stands as a piece of ‘pure’

music but it has become a real tradition to perform the Carnival with poetry accompaniment.

Forty years after Nash, Australian playwright Nick Enright was inspired to create a new set of

poems, with a distinctly contemporary and Australian flavour. (The birds in his aviary, for

example, are boobooks, lorikeets and cockatoos; his swans are black swans; and Saint-Saëns’

original ‘speedy animal’, the central Asian onager or wild donkey, is transformed into our local

sprint champion, the emu.) These poems, commissioned by the ABC, have now become classics

in their own right, with Enright’s almost physical feel for the taste and nature of words and

sounds perfectly matching Saint-Saëns’ subtle skill with a musical paint-brush.

SEBASTIAN THE FOX

Sebastian the Fox is a local lad, created for ABC Television in 1963. The wily little puppet in his

smart yellow waistcoat regularly outsmarted his human co-stars, whether stealing sausages,

sabotaging a tea party or escaping from bushrangers! The programs were virtually silent

movies: there was the occasional sound effect, but none of the characters spoke. Running

through each episode, however, was the music of Australian composer George Dreyfus.

Dreyfus wrote two hours of music for twelve episodes of the show; he then selected some of his

favourite moments and reworked them into this eight-movement suite, with brief

introductions to set the scene. (The words to the theme song, though, are by Tim Burstall, who

devised and directed the television program.)

10

Nick Enright

Nick Enright was best known for writing plays,

especially Blackrock, The Venetian Twins (with

music by Terrence Clarke), the stage adaptation

of Tim Winton’s novel Cloudstreet (with Justin

Monjo) and The Boy from Oz (with music by

Peter Allen). He wrote the screenplay for

Lorenzo’s Oil, for which he received an Academy

Award nomination. He was also a gifted and

much-admired teacher.

Nick Enright was commissioned by the ABC in

1989 to write new verse to accompany Camille

Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals. His vibrant

and cheekily Australian take on this kids’ classic

has been performed numerous times. Its first

appearance on record was on LP for ABC

Records in 1990, featuring the Sydney Symphony

Orchestra, narrated by Noni Hazlehurst.

performed at a major Russian arts festival, in front of journalists from around the world. This

time, it was a huge success. The word spread quickly, and Peter and the Wolf has remained a

favourite with children and adults alike.

Sviatoslav later described the experience: ‘The hall was full, there were a lot of children in

motley clothes and the abundance of red colour amazed me! An exciting, festive and unusual

atmosphere reigned — everybody was speaking Russian!’ (Prokofiev had left Russia in 1918, and

his boys had grown up in Paris.) ‘The text was expressively and brilliantly read by Natalia Satz

— a young attractive woman who, as the action went on, was transformed into Peter or

Grandfather or the Wolf or the Duck! It was a great success, the children were joyfully

shouting. Father and Natalia Satz came out many times to bow. I remember how all of our

family was returning on foot along the boulevard with a pond where real ducks were

swimming. It was a beautiful sunny day in May. Father was pleased and walked joyously and

excited, recalling various episodes of the concert.’

Prokofiev links the music with the story by giving each character a musical ‘signature’, a

distinctive tune which appears whenever that character is featured. Each of these tunes is

associated with a particular instrument: the Bird’s melody is played on the flute, the Duck’s on

the oboe. The Cat slinks through the story to the sound of the clarinet; a rather grumpy tune

from the bassoon is Peter’s Grandfather; three sinister horns represent the Wolf; the Hunters’

guns are heard on the bass drum and timpani, and Peter himself is full of boyish energy and

enthusiasm with a jaunty tune from the violins.

13

The original TV score used modest forces – a trio of wind instruments (flute, clarinet and

bassoon) plus piano – with just the occasional extra instrument or two when an episode called

for a change of musical colour. The suite has been published for all kinds of combinations of

instruments, from recorder quartet to piano solo; this is the first recording of the version for

full orchestra.

The project was a departure from the ‘serious’ music Dreyfus had been working on up until

then; he later joked that Sebastian changed his life ‘because I could then see a way of earning

money in music and not selling life insurance!’ But Dreyfus, according to fellow composer Paul

Grabowsky, was also inspired by the idea of music as being something shared between people,

and his Sebastian music has a joyous, whimsical, playful quality which makes a direct

connection with listeners of all ages.

PETER AND THE WOLF

Prokofiev’s elder son Sviatoslav was 12, and his younger son Oleg was seven, when their father

took them to see his new piece, Peter and the Wolf. It had been written at the request of Natalia

Satz, director of the Central Children’s Theatre in Moscow, who was keen to find a way to keep

her young audiences interested once the talking and acting stopped and the music took over.

Prokofiev, having seen his own sons’ reactions to classical music, took up the challenge with

great enthusiasm and finished the first draft (including writing his own poetry) in just four

days. One week later, the orchestral version was complete.

Inexplicably, the first performance on 2 May 1936 seems to have attracted little attention –

Prokofiev later described the premiere as ‘inauspicious at best’ – but a few days later, it was

12

15

BABAR THE ELEPHANT

‘Play this instead!’

Poulenc’s three-year-old cousin Sophie, unimpressed by the composer’s more abstract music,

took matters into her own hands by climbing onto his lap and placing a copy of her favourite

book, Babar the Elephant, on the piano’s music stand. The book was upside down, but Poulenc

was happy to oblige, improvising an accompaniment to each scene that left Sophie completely

entranced. Lumbering forest beasts, twittering birds, chic Parisian cafés, tooting car horns,

heartfelt farewells, joyful reunions, wedding celebrations and star-spangled night skies –

Poulenc’s music suggests each image with elegance and subtle humour.

The story was created in 1930 by Cécile de Brunhoff, who was looking for a way to distract her

young son Mathieu from a stomach ache. Mathieu and his brother Laurent later told the story

to their father Jean; he, a painter, promptly made it into a picture book, also adding some ideas

of his own to the story. (Cécile refused to be officially credited as a co-author, saying that her

contribution was not significant enough.) Six more episodes of Babar’s adventures followed

before Jean de Brunhoff ’s untimely death, just six years later, from tuberculosis. He was

37 years old.

Poulenc’s encounter with Babar took place in 1940; over the next five years, he wrote down the

music he had improvised for Sophie and refined it into a form fit for publication. At this stage,

it was still music for solo piano. The orchestral version didn’t appear until 1962, and is the

work of a different composer, Jean Françaix – Poulenc being too busy to orchestrate it himself.

Much of the colour in the music comes from Françaix’s superb choice of instruments.

14

Tohby Riddle

Tohby Riddle is an award-winning writer,

illustrator, cartoonist, designer and sometime

editor based in Sydney, Australia.

He has written and illustrated numerous well-

loved picture books, including The Singing Hat,

Nobody Owns the Moon and The Great Escape

from City Zoo. In 2009 he released the critically

acclaimed young adult novel, The Lucky Ones.

Tohby was the cartoonist for Good Weekend

magazine for nearly ten years and is a former

editor of The School Magazine, a literary

magazine for children published by the NSW

Department of Education since 1916.

Tohby speaks at schools, universities, writers’

festivals and conferences across Australia to talk

about his art and writing and other things that

come to mind.

www.tohby.com

stage includes playing the lead character Mufasa in the The Lion King, and Judas in the New

Zealand production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Jay’s debut CD release for ABC Kids, Come Dance and Sing, was written, arranged and sung by Jay

himself. He also wrote and performed in his own live show Jay’s Place, which won the 2007

Sydney Theatre Award for Best Production for Children.

A father of eight, Jay has a genuine understanding of what kids like and has a natural warmth

and ease with children. In addition to his work on Play School, Jay narrates Larry the Lawnmower.

Georgie Parker

Georgie Parker is one of Australia’s most celebrated actors, having starred in some of this

country’s all-time favourite and enduring programs, including Play School, A Country Practice,

All Saints, Animal Emergency, Scorched and most recently City Homicide. With seven Logie Awards,

including two Gold Logies, Georgie is, quite simply, a household name!

But her talents are not confined to the small screen. She has also performed extensively in

theatre in shows including the critically acclaimed Let the Sun Shine, Rabbit Hole, They’re Playing

Our Song, Scenes from a Separation and The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular.

Georgie’s exceptional musical ability has dazzled audiences in such performances

as Georgie Parker Sings Gershwin at Taronga Zoo, Sydney’s Carols in the Domain,

and hosting and singing in Opera Australia’s Christmas at the House. She has

also released an album of timeless songs for the whole family to enjoy called

Here Comes the Sun. For this, her debut children’s CD, Georgie chose a

selection of classics that had a personal resonance for her, including songs

by James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel and The Beatles. Here Comes the Sun

was nominated for a 2009 ARIA award for Best Children’s Album.

1716

Justine Clarke

Justine Clarke has forged a unique bond with Australian audiences over the past 25 years. As a

child herself, she rode shotgun with Mel Gibson in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Now she’s a

firm favourite with kids, as a key presenter on ABC TV’s preschool mainstay, Play School.

Justine has written, sung and performed in a huge range of guises from country to jazz.

She’s an acclaimed theatre performer, appearing regularly for the Sydney Theatre

Company in many high profile productions, such as Hedda Gabler. On film she

has established her place among the very finest with her starring role in Look

Both Ways for which she won Best Actress at the Mar Del Plata International

Film Festival and the Vladivostok International Film Festival. She has also

appeared in acclaimed TV dramas Home and Away, All Saints, The Surgeon,

Love My Way and Tangle, to name a few.

Justine has released two children’s albums, I Like to Sing and Songs to Make

You Smile, both of which have been nominated for ARIA awards, with I Like to Sing achieving

Gold sales status. Her voice is an instrument of ageless charm. She has performed sell-out live

shows around the country, much to the delight of her legion of young fans.

Jay Laga’aia

Jay Laga’aia is one of Australia’s most in-demand and versatile actors. One of Play

School’s most popular presenters, Jay has appeared on numerous Australian and

New Zealand television series such as Bed of Roses, McLeod’s Daughters, Xena Warrior

Princess, Tales of the South Sea, Water Rats and Street Legal, for which he won a New

Zealand TV Guide Award. Most recently, he has been cast as a series regular

on Home and Away. Jay’s film credits include Nim’s Island, Daybreakers, Never Say

Die and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. His work on the

19

Executive Producers Martin Buzacott,

Robert Patterson

Recording Manager Virginia Read

Recording Producers Stephen Snelleman CD1

1-%, André Shrimski CD1 ^-¢, CD2

Recording Engineers Wayne Baker CD1 1-%,

Veronika Vincze CD1 ^-¢, CD2

Editing Tom Grubb CD2 1-9, Veronika Vincze

and André Shrimski CD1 ^-¢, CD2 0-™

Narration Recording, Editing and Mastering

Virginia Read

Editorial and Production Manager

Hilary Shrubb

Publications Editor Natalie Shea

Cover Artwork Tohby Riddle

Booklet Design Imagecorp Pty Ltd

Photography Angelo Kehagias (Justine Clarke),

Ludwik Dabrowski (Jay Laga’aia), Paul Gosney

(Georgie Parker)

Annotations Natalie Shea

For Adelaide Symphony Orchestra

Chief Executive Rainer Jozeps

Manager, Artistic Planning Jim Koehne

Production Manager Tess Ryan

Orchestral Manager Karen Frost

www.aso.com.au

For Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

Managing Director Nicholas Heyward

Manager, Artistic Planning Simon Rogers

Orchestral Coordinator Evan Woodroffe

www.tso.com.au

Peter and the Wolf, by Sergei Prokofiev, is published by

Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.

L’Histoire de Babar (Babar the Elephant), by Francis

Poulenc, orchestrated by Jean Françaix, is published

by Chester Music Ltd.

ABC Classics thanks Tohby Riddle, Sonia Le, Erin

Keneally, Megan Crozier, Alexandra Alewood and

Katherine Kemp.

� 2009 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

� 2009 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Universal

Music Group, under exclusive licence. Made in Australia.

All rights of the owner of copyright reserved. Any

copying, renting, lending, diffusion, public performance

or broadcast of this record without the authority of the

copyright owner is prohibited.

18