An American in Pyongyang

Like a bridge without words, music was able to overcome all ideological barriers

Almost 300 Americans landed in North Korea ready to conquer it. In what was the incursion of the largest contingent of Americans since the Korean war, the New York Philharmonic interpreted the music of Dvorák, Wagner, Bernstein, Gershwin, and most surprisingly, the Star Spangled Banner in the Grand Theater of Pyongyang before an audience of bureaucrats, high-level officials and diplomats. When the orchestra closed with Arirang, a classical piece of Korean folklore, many were shedding tears. Afterwards the audience applauded for more than five minutes.

“We can say that it was a mission accomplished,” commented director Lorin Maazel after the concert, “and perhaps we have been able to open a door.” Hopefully, even though the White House commentary was that a concert does not change history and North Korea has a lot of work to do on democracy and the dismantling of their nuclear program. In Pyongyang the concert was televised, but on the radio, the truly powerful medium, it was totally absent. The government-controlled press relegated the review to the interior pages, splashing across the front page the bouquet of flowers that Kim Jong Il sent to Raúl Castro to congratulate him on his new position.

Virtuosity lost in the air? I doubt it. In this globalized world it is the subtle changes that illustrate large successes and there is no better strategy for dismantling a tyranny than injecting in the people a passion for the sublime, justice and liberty. Isolating North Korea like they do Cuba and Burma, or in the past they did with China or Russia, just plants their leader more firmly in the hearts of the people. For North Korean classical musicians, accustomed to playing nationalist melodies and praises to the leader, this was an ideal opportunity to touch first hand, literally, the universal current of art in a world that is only getting smaller and more dynamic.

And for next year, Eric Clapton has been invited to Pyongyang. They say that Kim Jong Il is a fan of “slow hands.” For a nation where rock and pop are prohibited for being bad influences, this is a big change. Perhaps the Chinese experience is opening the eyes of the North Korean elite. We will have to see their faces when Clapton plays the chords of Cocaine.