What Is It with You Classical Music Nuts, Anyway?

To those you have never been bitten by the bug, the obsessions of classical music fans - including the endless comparisons, in minute detail of tempi, inflection, sonority and podium manner, of different performances by various conductors and orchestras of the same, hoary, centuries-year-old works must appear an inexplicable affectation. Music critic Andrew Patner, on tour with the Chicago Symphony in Japan, doesn't explain it, but in his vivid portrait of Tokyo's "ticket man", who stands outside the city's concert halls begging tickets, you can get a wonderful feel of what it's like inside the mania. Check it out here.