Peter Wolf and Other Stories with Classical Pianist "Olga Jegunova" and Ranconteur "Matthew Crampton"

Innovative musical storytelling duo Olga and Matthew bring Peter and the Wolf and other stories to Kings Place

Sunday 9 June sees the Kings Place debut of a remarkable collaboration between storyteller Matthew Crampton and classical pianist Olga Jegunova. In a special family concert, they present their version of Prokofiev’s classic Peter and the Wolf as well as their trademark storytelling with improvised piano.

‘Storytelling is the most ancient form of entertainment,’ explains Matthew ‘and, at heart, it’s the same today as in the caves so long ago. Someone stands up and uses words, gestures and music to enchant an audience. Kings Place is a lot more comfortable than a cave, but that’s essentially what we’ll do – enabling families to gather and enjoy story together.’

Peter and the Wolf brings a further dimension. This 1936 classic by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev introduces children to musical variety by ascribing a different tune to each character in the story. Though best known in orchestral form, it was first written for solo piano, as presented by Olga here.

‘It’s a wonderful piece to play,’ says Olga. ‘Very challenging, but you get a real sense of telling a story, of investing each motif with a particular animal or person. We’ve made our own version of it, enabling audiences to experience as wide an impact as from an orchestra.’