Baby Einstein: Music Box Orchestra - Various Artists

Compilation of re-orchestrated classical pieces.

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Music details

Artist(s): Various Artists
Genre: Classical
Label: Disney
Parental Advisory: No
Edited Version: No
Release Date: 05/17/2005

Parents need to know

Parents need to know that the pleasing instrumentals of classical compositions by the Music Box Orchestra beg the question: Why not listen to the real thing? Still, your kids could do a lot worse.

Families can talk about why these classical compositions are tunes for the ages. What makes them timeless? How do family members feel about classical music as opposed to modern-day tunes?

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Common Sense says

What's the story?

Reviewed by Christine Walker and Dennis Hysom

MUSIC BOX ORCHESTRA includes 17 classical instrumental compositions selected from the Baby Einstein Music Collection (the renditions are short -- the longest playing out at 3 minutes, 11 seconds). An orchestral tune-up begins the CD, followed by the tapping of a conductor's baton signaling a five-second fanfare based on Mozart's "The Magic Flute." Selections include the first movement of Mozart's familiar "Piano Sonata in C," a Bach "Brandenburg Concerto" and a canon from his "Goldberg Variations," "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" by Strauss, Jr., a nocturne by Chopin, more Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Handel.

Is it any good?

The music is precise to a note, with accomplished musicians, but at times has a mechanical feeling due to reliance on synthesized instrumentation. When real instruments are introduced into the mix, compositions stand out, as in Beethoven's "The Ruins of Athens" and "Sonatina in G." The CD is marketed as "A Concert for Little Ears" and most of the pieces are sonically pleasing. But little ears can also benefit from richly orchestrated recordings, and families may prefer listening to the real thing.