By Jon Herskovitz
PYONGYANG (Reuters) - Cold War foes the United States andNorth Korea enjoyed a rare moment of harmony on Tuesday whenthe New York Philharmonic played an unprecedented concert inthe hermit state.
An audience of North Korea's communist elite gave America'soldest orchestra a standing ovation after a rousing set thattook in Dvorak, Gershwin and a Korean folk song. Some of themusicians were so overcome they left the stage in tears.
"Little did we know that we would be thrown into orbit bythis stunning, stunning reaction," said Lorin Maazel, thePhilharmonic's music director.
North Korea's solitary television station broadcast theconcert live to a population taught during 60 years ofanimosity to view all things foreign with deep suspicion --especially from the United States, officially their darkestenemy.
"We Koreans fully appreciate the performance this eveningby the New York Philharmonic, not just as an art performance,but as the good feelings of the ordinary citizens of the UnitedStates toward the Korean people," said Pak Chol, the North'scounsellor of the Korea-Asia Pacific Peace Committee.
The concert was born out of talks last year on ending theimpoverished North's nuclear arms program in exchange for aidand the promise of opening doors to the outside world that havebeen shut due to its defiant behaviour.
CULTURAL OVERTURES
The Bush administration in public played down thesignificance of the concert and White House spokeswoman DanaPerino said any future cultural exchanges would depend on NorthKorea's cooperation on the nuclear issue.
But analysts say Washington sees the visit, the biggest bya U.S. group since the 1950-53 Korean War, as akin to culturalovertures it made to other Cold War foes decades ago and whicheventually helped to ease tension.
"When we received this very warm and enthusiasticreception, we felt that indeed, there may be a missionaccomplished here," Maazel said. "We may have been instrumentalin opening a little door. If it does become seen in retrospectas a historical moment, we will all feel very proud to havebeen part of it."
More than 2,000 North Koreans attended the invitation-onlyconcert, although leader Kim Jong-il was conspicuously absent.
The crowd, mostly middle-aged men in dark suits and redlapel badges with images of state founder Kim Il-sung, were theelite of the communist capital.
The country's embassy in London said on Tuesday it had alsoinvited Eric Clapton to perform in Pyongyang.
"We have recently sent a letter to Mr Clapton's agentinviting him to Pyongyang for a concert. And I do think that ifhe plays a concert in Pyongyang it will be a good opportunityfor the Korean people to understand Western music," an embassyspokesman said.
Such a concert would make the British 62-year-oldGrammy-winning singer of "Layla" and "Cocaine" the firstWestern rock star to play Pyongyang. A spokeswoman forClapton's record label, Warner Music, declined to comment. Hisagent was not immediately available for comment.
DIPLOMATIC COUP
The New York Philharmonic orchestra opened its performancewith both national anthems -- North Korea's first.
"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 visit the communist state.
The audience, more used to music that praises North Korea'spolitical system and its leadership, listened with raptattention to the more than 90-minute performance in the packedEast Pyongyang Grand Theatre.
During the three-day visit, North Korea has opened itsnormally tightly shut doors to scores of foreign journalists,allowing them Internet access and international phone lines,unheard of in a country that imprisons people for unauthorizedcontact with the outside world.
Analysts said North Korea saw the arrival of the orchestraas 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 at each other 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," about a foreignerdiscovering the "city of lights," was played in a country thatdoes not produce enough electricity to light its homes atnight.
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.
It did not cover the sign in the middle of the city thatread: "Crush the American imperialist aggressors."
(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Beijing;Editing by Alex Richardson and David Storey)
(Take a look at the Reuters Global News Blog for more onthe NY Philharmonic's visit:http:/blogs.reuters.com/global/)
