The Faust conspiracy

Cannon here: Every time I start to think that the country is regaining some of its marbles, I come across a news story like this one. In Bennett, Colorado, a teacher showed some youngsters a video containing selections from Charles Gounod's operatic warhorse Faust. The intention, of course, was to introduce kids to opera.

Faust is a good choice for young people because it has many good tunes, the kind you can hum. (I always liked the Soldier's Chorus -- which, if I recall correctly, the Nazis tried to instate as a replacement for La Marseillaise during the Occupation. Don't blame Gounod for that; it's still a fine song.) Alas, some concerned parents in Colorado have decided that this famous piece will somehow turn little Timmy and little Sally into acolytes of the Infernal One.

Absurd. The opera ends with a "Last Judgment" scene in which the prison bars fall away and a chorus of angels proclaims the Resurrection and the Return of Christ. I can't imagine a Fundamentalist Christian not loving it.

Faust was insanely popular for roughly 60 years; it was the Phantom of the Opera of its day. (Andrew Lloyd Webber undoubtedly used the earlier work as his model.) Throughout much of the 19th century, whenever a European or American opera house suffered from slack ticket sales, the proprietors would simply cancel whatever else they were performing and mount a quick-n-dirty Faust, which would sell out. If you've seen the film version of Age of Innocence (which uses music from Faust during the opening credits), you'll know that this piece became, for many in the upper classes, an annual ritual. It was the opera you saw even if you didn't like opera.

At some point in the 'teens of the last century, everyone suddenly decided that Gounod's music was old-fashioned, and performances became less frequent. That was the period when critics started to scoff at hummable tunes.

Still, no-one has ever before accused the work of turning children into Satanists!

When I was young, kids in Los Angeles were often treated (or dragged) to performances of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. Although the most popular character in that opera was the Witch, we somehow managed to enjoy her evildoings without giving ourselves over to the Dark Arts. Later, I managed to work my way through all of Wagner without once feeling tempted to worship Wotan and Donner. These days, I prefer the Berlioz version of the Faust story to Gounod's -- but even the mighty Hector has not transformed me into a disciple of His Satanic Majesty.

Is Colorado really so primitive and brutish? I've spent time in Denver, which is a beautiful, cultured city. (While there, I heard a performance of the Emperor concerto played by an "amateur" who was better than many pros.) Does the rest of the state wallow in pseudo-"Christian" savagery and superstition?