(Photograph)
A rousing reception: More than 2,000 North Koreans attended the performance of the New York Philharmonic Tuesday in Pyongyang, North Korea. 'We may have been instrumental in opening a little door,” says Lorin Maazel, the Philharmonic’s music director. “If it does become seen in retrospect as a historical moment, we will all feel very proud to have been part of it.'
David Guttenfelder/AP

North Koreans give New York Philharmonic a standing O

Tuesday's concert was a rousing success. Now, rock guitarist Eric Clapton has been invited to play in Pyongyang.

Cold war foes the United States and North Korea enjoyed a rare moment of harmony Tuesday when the New York Philharmonic played an unprecedented concert in the hermit state.

An audience of North Korea's communist elite gave America's oldest orchestra a standing ovation after a rousing set that took in Dvorak, Gershwin, the US and North Korean national anthems, and a Korean folk song. Some Philharmonic members were so overcome they left the stage in tears.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il did not attend.

But the country's sole television station broadcast the concert live to a population taught to view all things foreign with deep suspicion.

Who's next? The Financial Times says British rock guitarist Eric Clapton has been invited to play.

Related Stories
Get Monitor stories by e-mail:
(Your e-mail address will be protected by csmonitor.com's tough privacy policy.)

In Pictures
Fireworks: A party in the sky

ELECTION '08 Patchwork Nation
The American voter beyond red and blue

FISHERIES Empty Oceans Series
The sea is no longer so vast.


Daily podcast

Monitor Reports

Discussions with Monitor reporters from around the world


Today

Peter Grier

Honduras has two presidents, but no solution to the country's political crisis.




Making a difference
Making a Difference

What happens when ordinary people decide to pay it forward? Extraordinary change. See how individuals are making a difference, finding solutions, overcoming adversity, and giving back globally.

Jeremy Gilley, founder of the nonprofit Peace One Day, talks with students at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School in Cambridge, Mass.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

People making a difference: Jeremy Gilley

This actor and filmmaker envisions that world peace begins with just one day of peace.