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Music for My Little Friends is a CD for kids in the same way that non-sugary cereal becomes food for kids--if the box promises a prize inside. That is, aside from the title and whimsical cover art, there's not much kidlike about this release. Sir James, the virtuoso Irish flutist who's piped his way into gigs with the world's foremost orchestras and pop stars, is too sophisticated a musician to to... More

Music for My Little Friends is a CD for kids in the same way that non-sugary cereal becomes food for kids--if the box promises a prize inside. That is, aside from the title and whimsical cover art, there's not much kidlike about this release. Sir James, the virtuoso Irish flutist who's piped his way into gigs with the world's foremost orchestras and pop stars, is too sophisticated a musician to tone it down for small fries, so instead he gives them a gorgeous, accessible-to-all bundle of classical numbers. A few--Rota's "Five Easy Pieces," Gluck's "Dance of the Blessed Spirits," Debussy's "Mandoline," and Faure's "Berceuse"--positively flutter. Others, like Saint-Sa�ns's "The Swan" and Coulter's "Lament for the Wild Geese," snap hearts with their sad beauty. If Galway tips his cap to recorder-tooting tikes, it's with "Danny Boy" and Ibert's "The Little White Donkey"; still, the depth and distinguished interpretations of Galway, with backup by the London Mozart Players and pianist Phillip Moll, makes pulling off pure kid stuff impossible. No doubt Galway assembled Little Friends with the likely futile intention of chiseling away at every 4- to 12-year-old's resistance to classical music. What will grab hold, age or inclination aside, is a sense of the passion a single instrument can stir. --Tammy La Gorce

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