It strikes me that the responses we are giving to Peggy tend to 'blow off'
her initial preferences as we enthuse about our own preferences and
recommend that Peggy get with our program.  A couple of list members have
even used this thread to talk-up the listening experience of live concerts
as opposed to recordings.  Everyone seems to have an agenda.

I assume that any individuals wanting to delve into classical recordings
must have heard *something* that appealed to them and gives them the desire
to get involved.  Whatever that *something* is, it's reasonable to begin at
that point.

The notion of a 'starter' list of recordings for all new fans sounds
totally inappropriate to me as it does not take into account the basic
preferences of the new fan.  If my initial exposure to classical music
had been the romantic warhorse works and composers such as Tchaikovsky and
Liszt, I would have 'bugged out' many years ago.  There's a giant range of
classical music to explore, and no point along the range is inherently
better than another for beginners.

Don Satz
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