Even a staunch Anglophile like Opera Chic could not avoid to shudder a little this morning reading how Liz Forgan, chairwoman of Arts Council England (the body that dispenses public money to the arts in the UK), keynote speaker at the Royal Philharmonic Awards, thinks music should be taught in schools.
I mean, the UK historically made caning in public schools an impressively kinky part of their otherwise splendid educational system, but to add aural abuse to the list of indignities those scared schoolchildren have to suffer at school seems to be a bit much.
In short: How do you teach children how to love classical music? Via the always awesome (even when we disagree, which is not very often) Charlotte Higgins, says Ms. Forgan, who is after all not some random lunatic in Hyde Park but a very powerful person in the British arts:
"Give them Birtwistle, Buxtehude, Ligeti, Ockeghem and Beethoven as soon as possible. Give them the best of contemporary music of all sorts. Don't apologise."
Opera Chic's advice for your children: piano (or some other instrument) lessons are generally fun, when appreciated: and let them sort out of your music collection the stuff they like (if indeed they do like it). Otherwise, your kids are better off watching the Muppets -- Beethoven was a fan of theirs, after all.