Audience development

Halloween came a bit early in Los Angeles, as a group of people attired in the manner of Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange made their presence felt at a performance of Beethoven's Ninth in Disney Hall. Concertgoers stopped and gawked, but failed to be scandalized. An older gentleman called out, "Well done, droogies!" There was no audible ultraviolence during the performance itself, in which Gustavo Dudamel led the combined forces of the LA Phil and the Simon Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. This is what happens when I bring Sasha Frere-Jones to a concert.