“A delightfully entertaining romp for the entire family” is not the sort of description you expect to find gracing the cover of a CD released by Tzadik; the experimental music label set up by NY avant-supremo John Zorn, which is famous for championing extreme Japanese artists and Zorn’s own radical interpretations of film music… But this description fits Pincus and the Pig: A Klezmer Tale perfectly.
Released in 2004, as part of Tzadik’s Radical Jewish Culture series, it is a very droll, very Jewish reworking of Peter and the Wolf by none other than Maurice Sendak, the artist/writer behind the children’s classic, Where The Wild Things Are. On the CD, Sendak narrates, in fine histrionic fashion, the story of a boy who leaves a gate open and does battle with a monstrous cudgel-wielding pig. The story comes complete with kvetching farm animals and is accompanied by the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra, who swagger and cavort their way through a klezmerised version of Prokofiev’s "Peter and the Wolf" score. Here are a couple of samples:
Did You Hear Of Boychick Pincus?
No Sooner Had They Disappeared Inside...
The CD, which comes with an illustrated booklet, Yiddish glossary, and bonus sheet of collectible stickers, can be purchased from the Tzadik website.