MMM | The New York Philharmonic in North Korea

In 2007, the New York Philharmonic received an unusual fax from North Korea: an invitation to play in Pyongyang. Lorin Maazel and the orchestra accept.

In 2007, the New York Philharmonic received an unusual fax from the North Korean Ministry of Culture: an invitation to play in Pyongyang. The confusion and astonishment are great. The timing seems to have been well chosen by North Korea: After decades of efforts to persuade the closed-off country to end its nuclear program, there have been a number of breakthroughs. The concert is seen as an opportunity for an initial cultural exchange to deepen relations.

The management of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, led by managing director Zarin Mehta and chief conductor Lorin Maazel, decides to accept the invitation. The members of the orchestra react with a mixture of shock, fear and horror, and in some cases amusement. How can they travel to a country with one of the worst human rights records in the world? What about the safety of their Korean colleagues?

Maazel and Mehta are aware that the choice of repertoire and accompanying gestures is a unique opportunity to convey a message that will inevitably be read with all its political, cultural and historical implications.

With the third encore, the orchestra finally moves its audience to tears. The piece is called Arirang - a well-known Korean folk song. After the last notes fade away, the audience, consisting of 1,500 of the most elite communist party members, loses its composure: a standing ovation to thunderous applause.

17 years later, the question arises: what effect did the legendary concert have on the relations between North Korea and the West?

Duration 43 / 52 min
English series title Magic Moments of Music
Original series title Sternstunden der Musik
Director Alix François Meier
Producer Claus Wischmann
Production Company ZDF/Arte, sounding images
English title of music work Aegukka, national anthem of Nordkorea; 9th Symphony - Antonín Dvořák; Overture to the operetta Candide - Leonard Bernstein; Arirang, Korean folk song - Arr. Sung-Hwan Choi
Co-Producer Christopher Janssen