Music to Our Ears
Filed under: Asia
On Tuesday in North Korea, New York Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Lorin Maazel stated:
"Someday a composer may write a work entitled 'Americans in Pyongyang'."
Maazel was just about to lead his orchestra in a rousing rendition of George Gershwin's classic An American in Paris, to the delight and thunderous applause of the North Korean audience assembled for the concert. The New York Times reported:
At a news conference Tuesday shortly before the performance, Mr. Maazel drew a distinction between Tuesday night's concert and the orchestra's 1959 visit to the Soviet Union. "It showed Soviet citizens that they could have relations with foreign organizations and these organizations could come in the country freely," he said. "But what the Soviets didn't realize was, this was a two-edged sword. By allowing interactions between people from outside the country with people inside, eventually the people found themselves out of power."
He also managed to slip in a pointed barb against the North Korean oligarchy: "'The Korean peninsula is a very small area geographically,' he said, 'and has an entirely different role to play in the course of human events.'"
Now that is more like it! Who knew that musicians could be so ferocious?
Meanwhile, don't think his message is lost on Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Hence, his furious struggle to erect a neo-Soviet state and to exclude foreign influence as much as possible. Hear about him inviting Americans for cultural visits recently? No? Didn't think so.
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