– Customer review on 01/07/2011

First of all, let's clear up one misconception that some other reviewers seem to have -- Just as the Baby Einstein videos are not designed to replicate the directing genius of such Hollywood masterminds as Scorsese or Coppola, the Baby Einstein CDs are not designed to replicate the great symphonies and orchestras of the world! The CDs do indeed utilize great pieces of classical music as their base, but they are not meant to sound as if they are performed by a 120-piece orchestra.

In point of fact, the CDs are meant to work in conjunction with the Baby Einstein video series' various imageries and sounds, meaning they are designed to appeal in simplistic ways to the senses and interests of developing children. They take classical music (which is complex in nature) and replicate it in much simpler ways (via synthesized methods). This allows young developing ears to "tune in" to the various individual sounds and to identify simplistically with the overall melody. And isn't a toddler who wants to hear repeats of Pachebel's Canon or Vivaldi's Four Seasons a far cry more tolerable to Mom and Dad than one who wants to hear constant repeats of some big silly purple dinosaur singing?!?

My husband and I love classical music and have many of the great classical works performed by the world's best symphonies and orchestras. However, attempting to draw side-by-side comparisons between Baby Einstein CDs and the great orchestras of the world is like attemtping to compare apples and oranges!