To listen to DVD-A must I have a television connected to my stereo? I have only one DVD-A disk and my experience is that I must have a TV connected to navigate the menu. It seems annoying to me. I don't have this problem with SACD, obviously.
Since I don't have a DVDA player, I'm not absolutely sure on this, but did you try just hitting play on the remote? I know most movies will start if you do this, without selecting menu options. Give it a try, what have you got to lose?
My experience is with the Telarc 1812 Overture DVD-A where to start it is more like; put the disc in, press down, enter, 1 enter and then it will play in stereo mode. If you just put it in and press play you'll most likely get the surround program.