2008 New York Philharmonic visit to North Korea

Concert

Program

The program, conducted by Lorin Maazel, included the national anthems of both North Korea ("Aegukka") and the United States ("The Star-Spangled Banner"), the Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin by Richard Wagner, Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", and George Gershwin's An American in Paris. Encores included the Farandole from Georges Bizet's Second L'Arlesienne Suite, Leonard Bernstein's Overture to Candide, and concluded{{cite news |access-date = March 23, 2010 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170305114628/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/world/asia/27symphony.html?_r=1 |archive-date = March 5, 2017 |access-date = February 27, 2008 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080226114902/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19320170 |archive-date = February 26, 2008 |access-date=February 28, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304165257/http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10758160 |archive-date=March 4, 2008 |url-status=live |access-date = February 29, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080302151140/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0%2C8599%2C1715457%2C00.html |archive-date = March 2, 2008 |url-status = dead

Attendance

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il did not attend the concert, but vice president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly Yang Hyong-sop and the Foreign Ministry's America chief Li Gun were present.{{cite news |access-date=February 27, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080301220150/http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200802/200802270015.html |archive-date=March 1, 2008 |url-status=dead

Broadcast

At the request of the New York Philharmonic, a live national broadcast was aired on Korean Central Television. |access-date = February 28, 2008 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080303074123/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/arts/music/19orch.html?ex=1361077200&en=9d499f926bc0be4c&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink |archive-date = March 3, 2008 |access-date = February 27, 2008 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080302104633/http://nyphil.org/about/virtualtours/0708/korea/ |archive-date = March 2, 2008

The concert may have been remarkable in North Korea for its live coverage alone. Evans J.R. Revere, president of the Korea Society and a negotiator of the visit, stated he believed it to be unprecedented, as other major events are broadcast from videotape footage.

DVD

In spring 2008 the New York Philharmonic's Pyongyang concert was released worldwide on DVD (Medici Arts / EuroArts / Naxos).

Political context

On August 13, 2007, the New York Philharmonic announced it was considering an invitation to perform in North Korea that it had received via "an independent representative of the Ministry of Culture".{{cite news |access-date = February 28, 2008 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071218211038/http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSN1336869620070814 |archive-date = December 18, 2007

On October 4, 2007, officials from the New York Philharmonic traveled to Pyongyang, accompanied by the executive director of the Korea Society and a member of the U.S. State Department's Office of Korean Affairs. They toured three concert halls including the Moranbong Theatre and the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, which was chosen for its larger capacity.{{cite news |access-date = March 2, 2008 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180225135633/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/arts/05orch.html?ex=1349323200&en=8ac70f4e20371cfb&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink |archive-date = February 25, 2018 |access-date = February 28, 2008 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080303074033/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/arts/music/13phil.html?ex=1350014400&en=cc3d0dc76efedfc7&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink |archive-date = March 3, 2008 |access-date = February 28, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080214100545/http://nyphil.org/broadcast/podcasts/index.cfm |archive-date = February 14, 2008 |url-status = dead

The invitation was formally accepted on December 11, 2007 at a news conference attended by the president of the New York Philharmonic, the chairman, and North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, Pak Kil-yon.{{cite news |access-date = February 28, 2008 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080302162845/http://www.nysun.com/article/67929 |archive-date = March 2, 2008

According to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, the possibility of civilian exchanges was discussed at the six-party nuclear disarmament talks in July 2007. The New York Philharmonic was specifically mentioned.{{cite news |access-date=February 28, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302182927/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-32608497_ITM |archive-date=March 2, 2008 |url-status=dead |access-date = February 28, 2008 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080303074023/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/arts/14arts.html?ex=1344830400&en=651c5cf8b40baa64&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink |archive-date = March 3, 2008

Effects

The North Korean government allowed unprecedented access to the country to more than 300 foreigners. Internet access and almost completely unrestricted international telephone calls were allowed for foreign journalists, something which is usually highly restricted.

The event was the first significant cultural visit from the United States to North Korea since the Korean War. The visit was anticipated as an opportunity to broaden relations with one of the world's most isolated nations.{{cite news |access-date = February 28, 2008 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081211045240/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/arts/music/10phil.html |archive-date = December 11, 2008

Song Sok-hwan, North Korea's culture minister, said, "We hope this will be a big step toward increased bilateral cultural exchange between our two countries."{{cite news |access-date=February 27, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303031455/http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/272286.html |archive-date=March 3, 2008 |url-status=live

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said, "I think at the end of the day, we consider this concert to be a concert, and it's not a diplomatic, you know, coup."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "The North Korean regime is the North Korean regime," before attending the inauguration of the new president of South Korea Lee Myung-bak in Seoul, adding, "I don't think we should get carried away with what listening to [the concert] is going to do in North Korea."{{cite magazine |access-date=February 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228142114/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0%2C8599%2C1717019%2C00.html |archive-date=February 28, 2008 |url-status=dead

Funding

The orchestra received a donation from Yoko Nagae Ceschina, a Japanese philanthropist who lives in Italy.{{cite web |access-date = March 2, 2008 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080303005355/http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/56/biz_philanthropy08_Yoko-Nagae-Ceschina_5GMX.html |archive-date = March 3, 2008 | access-date= March 2, 2008 }} Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation offered to pay for the rights to broadcast a concert by the Philharmonic in Seoul after the visit to North Korea.

References

References

1. "N.Y. Philharmonic tunes up in N. Korea". [[CNN]].
2. Wakin, Daniel J.. (2007-12-10). "New York Philharmonic agrees to perform in North Korea (Published 2007)". The New York Times.