A first for Saudis: Mozart performed publicly and women come

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"It's a good step to introduce Saudis to classical music," al-Ajami, 50, said during the intermission.

"I was amazed at the sounds coming from the musical instruments," said his son Ziad al-Ajami, 11, a fan of hard rock. "I've never been to a live concert before."

For the expatriates, the evening was an opportunity to have a normal evening out in Riyadh, a city with no movie theaters and where women are not allowed in outdoor cafes.

One foreign couple held hands, while another husband put his arm around his wife's shoulders rare public displays of affection in the kingdom. The mutuwwa, the dreaded religious police tasked with enforcing public morality, were nowhere to be seen for a change.

"I'm glad for an opportunity like this," said Mary Ann Jumawan, a 40-year-old administrator at the South Korean Embassy. "It's the first time in nine years here as a married couple that my husband and I go to a location like this."

But not everyone was impressed.

Abdullah al-Sabhan, his brother and three friends received invitations from a German business associate, but after half an hour, they snuck out.

"I'm bored," said al-Sabhan, 26, an engineer who prefers Egyptian pop music and had never heard of Mozart. "Let me leave before the second piece begins."

His brother, Saud, dismissed the notion that gatherings involving men and women together might one day become the norm.

"Saudi society wouldn't accept it. And girls aren't used to such mixed gatherings," he said, adding that if he had a sister, she certainly would not have been allowed to attend.

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