That is just how I got into classical music,.  After yers of listening
to Frank Zappa, David Sylvian, Ketih Jarrett, Yes, Genesis, King Crimson
etc I discoverd the Goldberg variations, Shostakovitch string Quartets,
the late Beethoven quartets, the late Beethoven piano sonatas.  The music
that according to Gramophone is the pinnacle of great music and not very
accesible.  To me it was the reverse.  I couldn't stand Mozart, Haydn etc.
I found lieder a torment to listen to.  I t took me quite a while to
"understand the language"- Today I a really enjoy Mozart (even though I
haven't heard that much), I am a great lover of lieder (I'm even doing
Dichterliebe with my song teacher) and I sing baroque music in a choir.

So there are indeed various ways to approach classical music.

Patrik