Leonard Bernstein has several recordings of Carnival of the Animals composed by Camille Saint-Saëns. The 1967 recording is notably cool because it features the Bernstein’s charming commentaries. You can for sure read all about the piece via Wikipedia but it’s more fun to listen to the master speak:
My dear young friends, music has lots of different uses in life. There are pieces that lift your spirit or interest your mind, or fill you with religious or passionate or dreamy or triumphant feelings. But some pieces are written only to amuse you, and one of them is this Carnival of the Animals, by the charming and masterful French composer Saint-Saëns. For one thing, it’s a sort of looney fantasy about a zoo, full of amusement and frolic. And although it’s written by Saint-Saëns mainly to amuse his friends, it was also partly intended to give young music students something for play that might be fun, instead of always that serious grind.
And what’s special about this recording:
So we thought that as long as this is true, why not invite young people to come and play with us. And that’s what we’ve done. We have asked seven very talented youngsters to join us in this zoological rump.
Here’s a link (https://youtu.be/Ve4nrvF5GVM?si=oCcZNYUHv5vlZ6ZE) to the YouTube playlist for the recording (full series). The music is playful and fun and thrillingly joyful and I absolutely recommend to sit down, grab a nice set of stereo equipment and listen to it in a row.
Enjoy!