I do really think this is a gorgeous set...looking at it makes me happy, let alone my daughter who at present is showing a big interest in music in general. It's quaint, traditional and charming, exuding the quality I've come to associate with these toys and appears well made and durable.
My daughter couldn't wait to get her Music lesson set up in her new school. Thankfully, unlike most Sylvanian sets, this one didn't need any preparation and there were no awkward stickers to place. Apart from the music books which needed folding into shape, everything was ready to go. Some of the pieces to this set are minute...such as the stick for the triangle, so this isn't a toy for younger children at all.
My daughter has a range of Sylvanian sets and families and so has plenty of children to Incorporate into the music lesson, but as a stand alone toy I can't see this working. Straightaway she sorted the toys into a class and deligated them an instrument to play...and this is where we ran into a pretty big issue. The figures hands are apparently designed to hold utensils and such like, however we couldn't get any of them to hold the instruments causing quite a bit of frustration. Eventually she came up with the idea of tucking parts into clothes but I think this fault took a lot of the shine from the toy making it's playability pretty poor. Similarly it's impossible to get the teacher to stay seated on the stool and he constantly topples backwards in a drunken manor. Spending a lot of fixing the setting up means less actual play and i think over all this set didn't really live up to my child's expectations.
This is a very nice set to look at, I can't fault it in anyway looks and quality wise. unfortunatly it's not the best set for playing. Lovely idea, gorgeous to look at, impractical for play.