Paul, since it's been more than 5 years since you original post. What are your thoughts now?
I doubt that my comments are of much relevance. My classical listening is very limited, compared to the listening posts of many others here. I've come to realize that my classical listening will never rival my listening in other genres, so I'm just trying to discover more of the music that moves me. I hope that never ends until I do.
I do find that I tend to enjoy chamber and small group music more than symphonies and other large group music (with some exceptions). In connection with that, I should mention that Chuck introduced me to Jascha Horenstein, who has become a favorite, partly because he was able to bring a sense of intimacy to his conducting of large group compositions.
One other quirk in my classical listening. I have a fair number of recordings of Charles Ives works. I'm not sure why I feel such a strong connection with Ives' music. Perhaps it's because I've spent most of my life less than 45 minutes away from the Danbury area, where he spent much of his life.