The Baby Einstein Company has created many fun ways for our children to learn about the world around them. With their selection of videos, CD’s, books, and toys, this company is an educational wonder! One of the videos that they have created is called “Baby Mozart: Music Festival.” This episode features the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with a combination of visual stimuli to keep your child engaged.
From the beginning credits of the DVD, my daughter began dancing in front of the television. She looked at me and smiled, and then proceeded to dance big circles around the living room. After the credits were over, she marveled at the perpetual motion toys displayed on the screen. Those are the ones that just need a simple push and then they use that first push to keep moving for a long time.
Variations on the piece “Ah vous dirai-je, maman” are prominent throughout this video. Your child will most likely recognize this work better as the tune to “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star.” It’s amazing the influence that classical music has on our everyday lives without us even knowing! This work is played near the beginning of the video to a slide show of fruits — lemon slices, an apple, a peach, and many other fruits. At the end of this segment, our friend the dragon puppet comes onto the screen. He opens up his mouth and…”Blah!” My daughter loves that part and always laughs. There is one part where “Ah vous dirai-je, maman” is made from the noises of animals — barking, meowing, quacking, tweeting, and mooing. While this plays, you see pictures of the animals’ sounds which are featured.
My favorite Mozart piece is called “Rondo Alla Turca” and is also known as a movement from “Piano Sonata in A.” When this song is featured in the video, the toy in the background is one of those with an automatic staircase that brings little toy people up to the top and then they slide back down to the bottom. In another part of this segment, a train made of three toy animals playing instruments rolls from one end of the screen to the other and back again. I thought that these displays were just perfect and even found myself laughing.
Unfortunately, the pieces featured throughout the video are not identified. I realize that with the recommended age being 1 month and up that the probably didn’t see the point in identifying the pieces. On the contrary, Beethoven’s symphonies are identified in “Baby Beethoven,” and I think that would be a great learning experience for the parents, if nothing else. Being a fan of classical music, it is nice when you hear a piece from a favorite composer you have the ability to identify it.
“Baby Mozart: Music Festival” is a fun way to help introduce your child to the works of Mozart. This can even be a way to open the door to your child’s appreciation of all classical music.
In addition to the DVD or VHS, there are toys, books, and other educational supplements to this video available for purchase from The Baby Einstein Company. Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon, and other retailers also sell Baby Einstein products.