I don't know if it would work for the originator of this thread (trying to
start a classical music collection), but in my early twenties I spent every
day for months at the Free Library of Philadelphia, listening to everything
they had.  I discovered Elliot Carter through a small choral work, among
hundreds of others, and Artur Schnabel as a performer of Beethoven, and
even Joseph Schwantner, who was to become one of my compositions teachers.
My goal, and I think it worked, was to arrive at a personal esthetic by
subjecting myself to anything, and everything, and from that anything to
find what moved me or even just attracted my attention.  There is a lot
of bad music from the baroque that people (read:  performers, producers,
impressarios, conductors) resurrect agonizingly; and a lot of good music
from the 20th century (21st century, now, I guess) that simply requires ten
minutes of attention to identify with and appreciate.  It does require a
lot of time to sort through recorded history, and a lot of coffee, but it
worked for me.

Beethoven's better symphonies DO rise to the top, as do Mozart's better
works (don't pretend it is all good, please!), as do some of Bach's
cantatas, but near the top one can find Josquin des Pres, Perotin, Bartok
(the string quartets), Tchaikovsky, Elliot Carter (the first and second
string quartet), Stravinsky (some works), etc, etc.

William Copper
www.hartenshield.com
www.hartenshield.com/lovelife.html (Lovelife Dances, Chorus, Piano 4 hands)