North Korea tunes in to New York Philharmonic

PYONGYANG (Reuters) - The United States' oldest symphonyorchestra played an unprecedented concert on Tuesday in hermitNorth Korea that both sides say they hope will bring a littleharmony to relations between the bitter Cold War foes.

North Korea's solitary television station broadcast thewhole concert live to a population taught to view all thingsforeign with deep suspicion -- especially if they come from theUnited States, officially their darkest enemy.

But any sign of the 60 years of enmity was kept well out ofsight as the orchestra opened the performance with bothnational anthems -- North Korea's first.

"This will go a long way towards bettering ties and futureexchanges," Yang Kwan-yong, who works in North Korea's musicrecording industry, told Reuters at the concert hall.

The concert has come as the impoverished communist statedrags its feet over demands to hold to its side of aninternational disarmament deal and own up to everything it hasbeen doing over the years to develop nuclear weapons.

"Please enjoy," conductor Lorin Maazel said in Korean tohuge applause from the audience before the orchestra playedGeorge Gershwin's "An American in Paris".

The audience of top cadres, more used to music that praisesNorth Korea's political system and its dynastic leadership,gave a standing ovation at the end of the more than 90-minuteperformance in the packed East Pyongyang Grand Theatre.

The flags of both countries stood on the stage.

NO KIM

"This is first time I have seen the American flag in NorthKorea," said one of the minders looking after the largest groupof foreign journalists to ever visit the communist state.

But noticeably absent from the audience was North Korea'sself-styled "Dear Leader", Kim Jong-il.

The concert closed with an arrangement of the "Arirang"folk song that is hugely popular on both sides of theheavily-armed border that has divided the Korean peninsula overhalf a century.

Executive director of the New York Philharmonic, ZarinMehta, said officials from both sides hoped the biggest U.S.group to visit since the 1950-53 Korean War would helpnormalise relations between the long-time foes.

Discussions for the concert, at the invitation from thenorth, first emerged last year as significant progress was madein six-way nuclear negotiations among the two Koreas, China,Japan, Russia and the United States.

Analysts say Washington sees this visit as akin to culturalovertures it made to other Cold War foes decades ago and whicheventually helped to ease tension.

During the three-day visit, North Korea has opened itsnormally tightly shut doors to scores of foreign journalists,allowing them Internet access and almost completelyunrestricted international phone lines -- unheard of in acountry that imprisons people for unauthorised contact with theoutside world.

DIPLOMATIC COUP

Analysts said that North Korea sees the arrival of theorchestra as a diplomatic coup.

Its propaganda machine will almost certainly spin the visitas a mission from the United States to pay tribute to KimJong-il, head of the world's first communist dynasty.

The two countries have no diplomatic ties, are technicallystill at war and have troops staring each other down across theheavily fortified border that has divided North and South Koreafor more than half a century.

The music selection was steeped in irony.

Gershwin's "An American in Paris", the famed piece about aforeigner discovering the "the city of lights", was played inan impoverished country that does not produce enoughelectricity to light its homes at night.

Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World",highlights an immigrant's discovery of America's music. Thetheme may resonate strangely in a country that forbids most ofits citizens from leaving and reportedly executes many of thosecaught escaping.

Energy-starved North Korea lit the streets of Pyongyang forthe motorcade of buses carrying some 350 people from theorchestra, its entourage and media covering the event.

As the buses pulled away, a few street lights went outbehind them. Through the rear-view mirror, one sign could stillbe seen, which read: "Crush the American imperialistaggressors".

(Editing by Jonathan Thatcher and Alex Richardson)

(Take a look at the Reuters Global News Blog for more onthe NY Philharmonic's visit:http://blogs.reuters.com/global/)