TOS Review: Maestro Classics The Story of Swan Lake

Maestro Classics mission is to, " cultivate a love of music through education and joyful performances."  Their Stories in Music series which can be enjoyed and appreciated by people of all ages introduces great music, classic stories, and helps develop listening skills.  Both entertaining and educational, this series has won 45 national awards.  Available titles include: Peter and the Wolf, The Soldier's Tale, The Story of Swan Lake, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, My Name is Handel; The Story of Water Music, The Tortoise and the Hare, Casey at the Bat, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Juanita the Spanish Lobster.  We recently had the opportunity to enjoy The Story of Swan Lake from Maestro Classics.

From the website: "The Story of Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky’s greatest ballet score, is the tale of a prince who falls in love with a beautiful princess. The princess, however, has been turned into a swan by an evil magician, and only the prince’s love can break the spell. This narrated version of the classic tale for children is sure to delight all who love ballet and enchanting storytelling.

A 24-page activity book included with the CD contains a biography of Tchaikovsky, information on acoustic and electric guitars, sheet music and words for a sing-along song, explanation of major and minor keys, puzzles and more"

There are seven different tracks on the CD including: The Story of Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky's Life, Speed Metal Swan, About the Music, Tchaikovsky Wrote A Great Ballet, Want to Have Some Fun, Prepare to Perform,  and Tchaikovsky Wrote A Great Ballet Sing Along.  Total running time for the CD 54:02 minutes.

Also included on the website are Homeschool Curriculum Plans to go along with the CD completely free!  Find activities and ideas in the areas of History, Science, Geography, Language Arts, Art, Music and Math to turn listening to The Story of Swan Lake into a Unit Study.  You can find Curriculum Plans for all the available CD's by clicking here.  Also available on the website are lesson plans for Music Teachers and Home Projects.

You can purchase The Story of Swan Lake and other available titles as a CD (including the 24 page activity book) for $16.98 or as an Mp3 Download (with a pdf download of activity book) for $9.98.  There are samples of each of the CD's on the website to listen to before you buy.  Click here to order or listen to the samples.

Christian 4 and Lily 2 Christian is really concentrating hard on the music!

We loved the Story of Swan Lake!  The CD is both educational and enjoyable, not just for the children, but for me also.  It is wonderful for listening to in the car on long trips or for enjoying on a rainy day.  I love that it is really teaching my children to recognize and appreciate classical music. I clicked on the sample as I was writing this review and as soon as the intro started to play my 2 year old said, "Mom, that's Swan Lake!"  I think it is wonderful that Maestro Classics has added the Homeschool Curriculum Guides to go along with the CD!  My boys especially liked the activities and discussions we had  about cross bows.  They also love the activity booklet.  I have to admit that the Speed Metal Swan track was not my cup of tea, but my boys thought it was really cool and played the "air guitar" along with the music.   


To see what other crew mates had to say click here. 

I received a complimentary copy of Swan Lake for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation.