If nothing else, the Beethoven's Ninth phenomenon proves that for many Japanese, there is no such concept as too much of a good thing. Sometimes entire radio programs are given over to different versions of Beethoven's Ninth. This, in turn, inspires some cynicism among serious musicians. Art or Big Business?

"I hate it," said Hiroyuki Iwaki, conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, which is affiliated with Japan's semiofficial broadcasting network. "This is a typical crazy Japanese love of what's fashionable. I think that by now it has lost its meaning and simply become big business."

Mr. Iwaki, who has been a guest conductor with many foreign orchestras, said many professional singers in Japan earned as much as half their income for the year simply by performing Beethoven's Ninth in December. The big orchestras, in turn, make money because they use amateurs for the chorus, he said.

"It was about 20 years ago that I decided that I loved Beethoven's Ninth so much I could not conduct it in December," Mr. Iwaki said. "Let me tell you what it's like. The audience is waiting, waiting, waiting for that big moment: 'O Freude!' And they're thinking of a bathtub!"

How did this fad happen? Some people say that audiences love Beethoven's Ninth because of the image of a penniless, deaf and solitary composer producing a sublime masterpiece. Others say it reflects the Japanese love of what is No. 1: the No. 1 symphony of the No. 1 composer.

"I think Beethoven is like a brand name for the Japanese," said Tairyo Wakayama, an amateur singer who performed at the Urayasu concert. "But at the end, I was very moved and had to swallow to clear my throat of emotion." Bigger in February