.bmp)
.bmp)
PYONGYANG-The New York Philharmonic arrived in a snowy Pyongyang on Monday to play the symphony"From the New World" in an overture to thaw still frozen ties from the Cold War era between the United States and North Korea.The unprecedented visit comes as international pressure mounts on the communist state to stop dragging its feet and stick to its side of a deal to eventually discard its nuclear weapons program.The oldest U.S. orchestra will stay in North Korea for about 48 hours in a visit that will culminate in a concert on Tuesday featuring the works of Antonin Dvorak's New World symphony and George Gershwin's "An American in Paris"."I am a musician and not a politician, but music has always been an arena or area where people can make contact. It is neutral, it is emotional," the philharmonic's music director, Lorin Maazel, told reporters at the airport.If well-received, the concert would make a "tiny contribution" toward bringing the United States and North Korea closer together, Maazel said.There is no word on whether the North's enigmatic leader Kim Jong-il will attend the concert, but analysts said the North's propaganda machine is almost certain to spin the event as U.S. homage to a man Washington accuses of sponsoring terrorism."This is a sign of prestige. It can be presented to the public as Westerners paying tribute to the Dear Leader," said Andrei Lankov, of South Korea's Kookmin University, who is a specialist on North Korea.The philharmonic arrived in Pyongyang on a South Korean chartered plane from Beijing and was greeted by North Korea's vice-culture minister.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah.....
