Peter Goldstein wrote:

>I'm entirely new to the list, so if this is a topic that's been dealt
>with in detail, I apologize.  I'm interested in people's views on taking
>repeats, particularly in the works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and their
>contemporaries.

The best advice is to take a look in the List Archive under "Eroica
Repeats" from a couple of years ago and you will find enough mails on the
subject to keep you going from Pancake Tuesday to Sheffield Wednesday!
Many who lived through that discussion (and I was one of them) came to
refer to it off-list as "The Thread From Hell".  On reflection, as much
light as well as heat WAS thrown on the subject though, at the time, it
seemed that the opposite was the case.  I, and I would not be surprised
if there are others who agree with me, said all that I ever wanted to say
on the subject then.  It's a fascinating topic but it is surprising just
how passionate people can get about it.

Tony Duggan, England.
Developing Mahler survey:
http://www.musicweb.force9.co.uk/music/Mahler/