I don't think there's any set generic reason so far as I'm concerned, Tommo: it will usually be one particular composer or work in a programme, or a combination of work and performer that draws me to a concert or recital. With relatively few concerts up here, I just book for the whole season - ten in all, five each from the RSNO and the Scottish Ensemble, and any chamber concert that has something I particularly adore or want to hear. I'm not a huge fan of 'theming' as such, especially if it's carried over a season, when the links can be stretched to the point of being tenuous, or are else so obvious that they become boring.

In single concerts, a variety of pace, texture and forces seems to me to work best, so even in the hypothetical case of a piano trio recital, I'd be even happier if there were a couple of works for one or two of the instruments (Ravel Sonata for Violin and Cello, perhaps) and a solo piano work, rather than a trio of trios.

Good question, Tommo, and I think the answer depends on your previous experience of the concert hall. I now only find programmes full of 'war-horses' attractive if the performers excite me - if there's a soloist or conductor I especially want to hear, or a visiting orchestra. It's the same with the opera or ballet - if there's a production I've seen before, it'll have to have a particular singer or dancer to make me purchase a ticket. I look out for unusual repertoire - seeing VW's The Pilgrim's Progress at Sadler's Wells last June was fantastic, not just because of the quality of the performance but because it is so rarely performed at all (although I'd love this to change). Similarly, a combination of the Mariinsky Opera and a Rimsky-Korsakov opera (The Tale of Tsar Saltan) is drawing me to London this weekend.

I wish British orchestras were more adventurous in exploring unfamiliar repertoire, although I understand the financial reasons behind much of their programming. Having recently listened to a lot of orchestral music by Fibich ( ) I'd love the chance to hear it performed in concert instead of Dvorak 7, 8 or 9, or movements from Smetana's Má vlast. Recording companies, despite reports of the death of the classical recording industry, offer us a variety of repertoire we'd be unlikely to hear in UK concert halls - when did you last hear Tansman, Tcherepnin, Balakirev or Raff performed live?

I'm not averse to a theme running through some concerts, although would prefer it if they're not packed into a short space of time - the Barenboim Beethoven recitals were crammed into late January/ early February and I couldn't justify so many visits to London in so few weeks. Two seasons ago, I did enjoy the Nash Ensemble's series Elgar and his contemporaries at Wigmore Hall - about half a dozen recitals over the season, containing a mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar - Coleridge Taylor's Clarinet Quintet being a new discovery and highlight.

When my kid bro was in the School Band, a tried and tested technique for assuring the attendance of as many relatives as possible was programming of popular lollipops like the theme from Thunderbirds, and James Bond, and some spectacular pyrotechnics to accompany Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture.

Themed concerts are fine sometimes such as composers' anniversaries.  No problems there.

I've been asking my friends what they would like and they have, without exception, stipulated that they like there to be just one warhorse to get them along.  They don't mind if the rest of the concert is contemporary or debut performances, but they appreciate a small amount of familiarity.  A whole concert of unknown or little heard works is daunting to most.

I would suggest that Milly's point is very sound. A single fairly-well-known warhorse is a good draw, and having secured the attendance of an audience, other less-well-known pieces can be presented favourably.