Nearly everyone was pleased with the Las Vegas Philharmonic's performance of family favorites that included Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" -- except, perhaps, the duck who is always the loser in the Russian tale.

Clint Holmes, and his son, Cooper, were the narrators for the fanciful tale, created as a children's introduction to the orchestra. A different instrument plays the musical theme of each character in the story: The bird is played by the flute, the duck is played by the oboe, Peter is played by the strings.

Associate conductor Richard McGee led an ebullient and compelling telling: The duck swam in an appropriately languid fashion; the grandfather was strong and stern; Peter showed emotion as his theme was repeated with slight variations.

The narration was emotive, though occasionally drowned out by the orchestra -- Saturday evening's only drawback.

Before "Peter," the program was devoted to other familiar works.

"Overture to Candide," so bright, so familiar, opened the evening and was followed quickly by selections from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by John Williams.

McGee next explained that several years ago, an audience member suggested to him that the Philharmonic would be a success only after it conquered "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Rimsky-Korsakov. She should be pleased since this "Flight" was quick and breezy, buzzing along with a bright tone and a winning tempo.

Just before intermission, Weller conducted the orchestra in two Beethoven selections. "Symphony No. 5" showed the composer's intensity. "Piano Concerto No. 3, 3rd Movement" featured Corbin Beisner, a 17-year-old Las Vegas native who was making his orchestral debut with the Philharmonic.

Beisner showed his light but compelling touch as he focused on the keyboard. He played alone, then was accompanied by the orchestra, then offered another solo -- a formula that was repeated, pleasantly, with the orchestra never drowning out the soloist.

The program was designed for the younger set, and one youngster coaxed by her parents to exit the hall a few minutes before the end of the concert was not at all pleased. As she was being pulled across the lobby floor, she kept shouting, "I want to go back!"