Steve Schwartz <[log in to unmask]> wrote in response to me: >>If one possibly whats a more safe start however I would say that Beethoven >>is indubitabely a much more safe start than Boulez. > >The point I have always made is that there is no such thing as a safe >choice, that one person's Beethoven is another's Boulez and vice versa. I disagree that reactions could be the same either way... I can accept that, on first encounter (and not only to his music, but as first encounter with CM), someone may fall immediately in love with Boulez... however, I can more easily imagine (as I count myself of this type), someone first hearing it and thinking, "What the h***?!" With a Beethoven or Mozart symphony or concerto, a person may immediately love, like, remain unmoved, or be bored to tears... but at least they'll all *get* it... (although, given, some on not as lofty a level as others.) Albie