Jee-Sun Huh wrote:

>Just wondering how you guys started enjoying classical music --

I'm not a musician, but I was exposed to enough classics at age 5 or 6--
1812 Overture, Hungarian Rhapsody #2, Grieg Piano Concerto, etc., that I
was receptive even during my preteens to piano lessons (they didn't "take",
but I always enjoyed exposure to various piano pieces.) When I got into
college and was on my own, I started buying a few things.  I had a roommate
who owned a small but impressive collection:  the Toscanini Beethoven
Symphonies, the Beethoven Violin Concerto and a few other items.  When he
moved on, I discovered I suddenly HAD to OWN my own copy of the violin
concerto, after which, the hook grew progressively deeper, to my unending
pleasure.  One such pleasure was stumbling onto the Beethoven Quartet #14,
Op 131, completely without knowledge of how great it was.  I bought it
merely out of curiosity and because it was cheap.  That album opened up the
entire world of chamber music to me.  (Those pleasures of discovery are
rarer now, but still happen.  For example, thanks to this list, I bought
the Penderecki Symphonies mentioned the other day, and found the Number 1
to be a total thrill.) Good luck and good hunting for those sublime
pleasures!

Dave Wolf
[log in to unmask]