John Deacon writes of a cancellation of a performance of Birtwhistle's
Gawain for an audience of schoolchildren, quoting Charles Osborne:

>Hundreds of children have had a narrow escape. If they had been forced
>to sit through that dreadful piece, they would almost certainly have
>been put off the art of opera for life.
>
>I must confess to agreeing with him totally.  How can one possibly start
>children off in life at quite the wrong end of the spectrum?

Probably under the "innocent ears" theory.  After all, Wagner was immensely
popular with lay audiences before he gained favor with people who knew
something about music.

Steve Schwartz