Nancy Bunin:

>Since joining the list a couple of weeks ago, I have observed that 98% of
>communication is by men.  I'm puzzled- are there many more men than women
>who like classical music?

Surely not, but I suspect that musical women prefer, in general, to make
music rather than talk about it, at least in public.

>I'm amazed at the breadth of some respondents' collections.  How do
>they finance this??

Month after month, year after year, decade after decade.  By buying at
steep discounts though buying "clubs," remainder outlets, or exceptional
retailers.  Maybe by replacing a car only after twelve years of service!
And recordings can last a lot longer than that, with even less care.
The justification for this kind of priority is that music is inherently
valuable, not just useful.  By buying classical recordings you can even
consider yourself a minor patron of the arts.  And if you don't buy them
you are going to go through life without ever hearing a lot of wonderful
music even once, let alone repeatedly if it is worth spending time on that.
I've been collecting classical recordings since I was fifteen years old,
quite a long time ago, and I still have some I bought then.  There was a
time I collected only music I had heard, preferably recordings I had heard,
but that was when I had access to a classical radio station that played
complete works, all day and evening; even then the repertoire was limited.
Now I buy--rarely at full price--recordings that I think I might like or
even those I am curious about; some are exciting finds, others are duds.

>And after financing their collections, how do they have the time to really
>listen to it all?  ...  Please let me in on the secret, if only regarding
>time management for music listening!

Having a CD player in the car for a two-hour-a-day commute helps.
Believing that you just may get lucky enough to enjoy a long life
helps too.  A good collection of recordings is a kind of investment in
the future.  A large collection and varied listening tends to prevent
getting tired of favorite works, not to mention condescension about the
"overfamiliar," something I consider both rude and unnecessary.  It
provides the delights of discovery and rediscovery.  It allows you to test
your taste and let it grow, develop and change over time--or not, in some
cases: there are works I have heard at least once a year for over four
decades and still love because I have not loved them to death.

Jim Tobin