Baby Einstein: Baby Noah
Parents have to admit: the brains of the folks behindBaby Einsteinseem awfully big when it comes to scheming up additions to their charming series.Baby Noah, the latest, leads crib-bound musical explorers on a journey through a classical landscape teeming with wildlife. It's an unlikely sounding concept--doubting Thomas moms and dads can't be blamed for wondering if this is a forced and flimsy attempt at adhering to a theme, or if an armload of classical pieces with animal overtones actually exists--but it's pulled off with Einstein-ian intelligence and flair. Creatures roam the classical catalog with the frequency of silver-haired tuxedo-wearing conductors, the producers effectively put across, and there's no restrictions on their adaptability. Beethoven's Piano Sonata 15, Op. 28, Fourth Movement, thus becomes "The Elephant, The Giraffe, and The Butterfly"--you can almost hear the beating of wings and the clomping of hooves--and Scarlatti's excellent Sonata in E Major becomes an absolutely aquatic-sounding "Seahorse Water Ballet." As always, the Music Box Orchestra players pad their performances with lullaby gentleness. If snoozability is the name of your game when it comes to music to develop your baby's intelligence by, you'll find no ark more hospitable.--Tammy La Gorce