I wrote:

>>>Indeed the sort of random buying Albie mentions is certainly what most
>>>beginners do,

Albie responded:

>>You don't think that complete newcomers to the classical department of the
>>record store don't go "*Schoen-who*?...  Oh...  ok...  here's one...
>>*Beethoven*...  now at least I've *heard* of him..."

And then Walter Meyer joined the conversation:

>I should think most people buy their first recordings based upon something
>they heard, seeking either a recording of what they heard or a recording of
>something like it.

The point I was trying to make--somehow I got the impression that this was
what Albie was talking about when he first denigrated random buying--was
that beginners typically don't worry about (and, I would argue, don't
*need* to worry about) different versions of whatever work they are
seeking.  They don't need to worry because virtually every rendition that
makes it onto CD is good enough that it can serve as an introduction to
the work in question and light the fire of a passion for classical music.

Newbies may be seeking the work for just the sort of reasons Walter Meyer
suggests above, or because they saw the composer's name in a book, or
because someone recommended the composer or work, or simply because at
an unspecifiable point in their lives, from some unidentifiable source,
the composer's name entered their consciousness.

Albie doubts the existence of this last sort of buying and parodies it
("now at least I've *heard* of him") above.  I'm here to tell him that
it happens and it works.  When I decided that I wanted to begin exploring
classical music--I had no background in it at all--I would walk into CD
stores and libraries (they're not mutually exclusive), look through what
they had and, when I hit on a name I'd heard (and these tended to be names
in what some have been calling the cannon), I'd pick it up and check it
out.  I do not ever remember saying to myself, in my early years of
listening anything like: I'd like to hear Beethoven's Fifth, but since
they don't have (for example) Furtwangler's 195* version I will have to
forego the experience.  Indeed joining this list was something of an
eye-opener to me: it had never occured to me how very important sometimes
very small differences in performances can be for some listeners.

And yes, the radio is a great place to hear a variety of works without
committing oneself financially, or even leaving one's home.  And for those
of us fortunate enough to have broadband and the free software RealPlayer
this is true no matter where we reside.  I live on the outskirts of Tokyo
and my classical music station of choice is out of the University of
Oregon:

   <http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~kwax/launchra.ram?mode=compact>.

It's much better tnan the BBC (also available to anyone with broadband and
RealPlayer).

Best,

David Cozy
[log in to unmask]