At a time of great austerity in my life (my early twenties) I was attracted to listening to classical music. I cannot say that my background was full exposure to classical music, my only recollection being the singing of Kathleen Ferrier who my mother revered. Kathleen Ferrier besides being a magnificent singer tragically died at an early age. I suspect howver that my mother's admiration was also due to the fact that they were born within a few years of each other and grew up in in the same dirty cotton milling town in E. Lancashire.

My recollection was of Miss Ferrier singing English folk songs such as "Blow the Wind Southerly" which was a great favourite of my mother. I also think that an unremembered primary school teacher having her 5 year old class singing folk songs was also an important birthing of my lifelong love of folksong and traditional music. I certainly had no form of musical training.

Returning to my early twenties and my newly acquired HiFi equipment that required material to be played upon it. I could not afford the latest record of Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic nor even those of Otto Klemperer and the Philharmonia. Instead I hired LP's from a lending library and then bought cheaper boxed sets which were not necessarily considered "the best" by the Gramophone reviewers. And that is how I got to listen to the symphonies of Beethoven, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Haydn, Dvorak, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Mahler, Strauss, Vaughan Williams,
as well as works by Saint Sans, Greig, Stravinsky, Bizet, Rimsky Korsakoff, Holst, Kodaly, Prokofiev, Katchaturian, Grainger, Orff.
I would have loved to go to live concerts if I could afford them and they did not necessitate travel. A suitable concert companion would additionally have enhanced my understanding and pleasure. Strangely however on one very rare live concert attended with someone I considered had the potential to be a long term companion, apart from her liking for single life and frequent partner changes, I was sadly disappointed when frowned upon by her for displaying my exuberance in stamping along to a piece of music described as "Stomping the Snake". The band was the wonderful Chilean origined Inti Illimani, the venue the Sydney Opera House.

Today I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to listen to not only the orchestras conducted by Herbert von Karajan but also those conducted by Otto Klemperer and a raft of others. I can listen not just to the symphonies of the abovementioned greats but also all their other works and those of many other composers as well. I doubt that I will hear all before I die but will have a go!
I thank you @ScientistV for the post. I also have a problem that this section does not include Art.

I have attended so many great performances it is impossible to select one to write about here. However, what comes to mind is this: I attended Kirsten Flagstaf's last performance at the old Met. At the end I took part in a standing ovation that was meant for her entire career. I timed it. 20 solid minutes. Other highlights: Vladimir Horowitz, Jussi Bjoerling in Carnegie Hall singing "Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair,"Joseph Hoffman, the lyric pianist, Mario del Monaco in "Andrea Chenier" at the Met, Victoria del Los Angeles in concert, Leonard Bernstein playing and singing hot jazz at a party..............and so on............

As a consumer, popular, classical and symphonic music, classical opera, any dramatic performance and just about everything regarding the Bauhaus period, and its precipitating events of the early 20th Century. As an artist I really enjoy being in musicals but I dance like a flailing manatee that has an inner ear infection, comedy and drama are a blast with the right people, and only feel at home on a stage with the house lights off. Great question!

My favorite ballets are mostly Tchaikovsky pieces, but I saw a Carmen adaptation that was wonderful. Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake... all my favorites.

Musicals like Avenue Q are amazing, too! And Spamalot.