“音乐外交”
The final strains of “Arirang”, the heart-rending Korean folk song about separation, had not even ended when the thumping applause started filling the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre last night.
Middle-aged men with purple-tinted glasses and women in traditional dress, visiting South Korean sponsors and Manhattan matrons in fur, they all leapt to their feet to celebrate the New York Philharmonic's emotionally charged debut performance in Pyongyang.
It felt like history.
Expectations were high for this trip, where the US's most prestigious orchestra went to a country founded on hatred of America. Just as cultural exchanges helped transform the US's relationship with China and the Soviet Union, some hoped this would be the beginning of warmer relations, and perhaps even détente, with North Korea. But few could have dared to hope the performance would have been so well received.
From the start, the concert was exceptional. On a stage flanked by North Korean and US flags, the orchestra played “Aegukga”, the North Korean national anthem, and the “Star Spangled Banner”. This would have been unthinkable 18 months ago.
The New York Phil moved on to Dvorak's New World Symphony. The applause was the kind of applause the audience might usually give at a revolutionary opera about agricultural production. The mood changed when Lorin Maazel, music director, turned to introduce the next piece. “It is written by America's most well-known composer and it's called An American in Paris,” he explained. “Some day a composer might write a work entitled Americans in Pyongyang.”
The audience broke out into rapturous applause. The ice was broken. If this concert precipitates a thaw, it started here.
Unlike with the Dvorak symphony, the members of the audience seemed to respond to the Gershwin piece. Indeed, Dvorak and the like are de rigeur in North Korea, but Gershwin is something else. The audience as a whole suddenly seemed much more engaged.
Many North Koreans were quick to join the standing ovation. And then the fireworks began. For the encore, the orchestra played Leonard Bernstein's Candide, after which Mr Maazel explained the orchestra's special attachment to its former conductor.
“Imagine Maestro Bernstein coming back and conducting once more,” Mr Maazel almost whispered. “Maestro, do me a favour,” he said in Korean, backing off the stage to leave the orchestra to play Bizet's Farandole without him.
The sight of the empty green dais was spine- tingling, especially given the historical connotations: Bernstein led the Phil to the Soviet Union in 1959.
The real magic came last.
“ ‘Arirang', ‘Arirang',” the North Koreans whispered to each other as the violins played the opening notes. The people in the second and third circles leant forward to watch over the ledge. The piccolo peeped the tune, the violins sang languidly.
As the piece closed, the applause was electric. And it was put on full display something rarely seen in North Korea: spontaneity.
The entire audience was on its feet, but this time it was not just the women in traditional dress who were smiling, it was the previously implacable bureaucrats too. They clapped, as the orchestra bowed.
Even as the musicians left the stage, the applause continued for several minutes. As Mr Maazel and the concert master returned to the empty stage, some North Koreans applauded over their heads.
“It seemed they were being so friendly with us through the music,” said one North Korean woman in a peach-coloured traditional dress, white handkerchief in her hand. “My favourite was ‘Arirang'. I felt very moved.”
Mr Maazel was also clearly moved. “It was a stunning, stunning reaction. We haven't seen that kind of enthusiastic reaction in a long time, and we have had some very successful concerts,” he said after the concert. “When we saw that very enthusiastic reaction, we thought that maybe it was mission accomplished.”
2月26日晚，最后一首倾诉离别之情、令人心碎的朝鲜民谣《阿里郎》甚至尚未终曲，雷鸣般的掌声就响彻了东平壤大剧场(East Pyongyang Grand Theatre)。
不管是戴着紫色眼镜的中年男子与身着传统衣裙的朝鲜妇女，还是到访的韩国主办方与身穿皮草的曼哈顿太太，全都起身庆祝纽约爱乐乐团(New York Philharmonic)在平壤激情四溢的首演。
这似乎是历史性的场景。
人们对此次朝鲜之行期望很高，这是美国最著名的管弦乐团前往一个仇美国家演出。正如文化交流曾推动了美中关系和美苏关系的转变，一些人希望此次演出是朝美关系转暖、甚至缓和的开端。不过，很少有人敢想象这场演出能受到如此热烈的欢迎。
这场音乐会从一开始就不太寻常。在两侧分别插有朝美两国国旗的舞台上，爱乐乐团演奏了朝鲜国歌《爱国歌》与美国国歌《星条旗永不落》。这在18个月前，根本无法想象。
接下来，纽约爱乐乐团演奏了德沃夏克(Dvorak)的《第九交响曲(自新大陆)》(New World Symphony)。观众的掌声就像通常对一场农业生产内容的革命歌剧报以的掌声。当乐队指挥洛林•马泽尔(Lorin Maazel)介绍下一首曲目时，气氛发生了变化。他介绍说：“这首曲子出自美国最著名的一位作曲家之手，曲名叫《一个美国人在巴黎》(An American in Paris)。或许有一天，某位作曲家会写下一首名为《美国人在平壤》的曲子。”
观众爆发出热烈的掌声。坚冰开始融化。如果说这场音乐会真能起到一种“融冰”的作用，就是从这里开始的。
与对德沃夏克交响曲的反应不同，观众似乎对格什温的这部作品很有回应。实际上，德沃夏克这类作曲家在朝鲜属于出于礼节、不得不听，但格什温就不一样了。观众整体上似乎突然投入得多了。
很多朝鲜人迅速起身，报以长久不息的掌声。气氛渐入佳境。应观众要求，乐团加演了雷昂纳德•伯恩斯坦(Leonard Bernstein)的《康迪德》(Candide)。之后，马泽尔向观众解释道明，乐团对前任指挥伯恩斯坦尤为感念。
马泽尔几乎像耳语般轻声说道：“想象一下，伯恩斯坦大师回来了，再次担任指挥。”他用朝鲜语说：“大师，帮忙指挥一下。”然后退下舞台，让乐队在没有他的情况下，独立演奏了比才(Bizet)的《法郎多尔舞曲》(Farandole)。
看着空空如也的绿色指挥台，真是让人又惊又喜，尤其是想到还有这样一个历史寓意：1959年，伯恩斯坦曾率领爱乐乐团赴前苏联演出。
但最神奇的一幕出现在最后。
“阿里郎、阿里郎……”当小提琴拉出这首曲子的起始音符，朝鲜人开始互相窃窃私语。第二圈和第三圈座位上的人向前探身，靠着栏杆观看演出。短笛若隐若现，小提琴浅吟低唱。
一曲终了，掌声如潮。这充分展示了某种在朝鲜较为罕见的东西：自发性。
观众全体起立，不过，这次不只是身穿传统服装、面带微笑的朝鲜女性，就连之前难以打动的官员们也站起身来。当乐团鞠躬致谢时，他们鼓掌致意。
甚至在这些音乐家离开舞台后，掌声还持续了几分钟。当马泽尔和乐团团长返回空空的舞台，一些朝鲜人举手过头，鼓掌喝彩。
一位身穿桃红色传统衣裙、手里拿着一块白手帕的朝鲜女士说：“他们似乎通过音乐，表达了对我们的友好。”“我最喜欢的就是《阿里郎》。我觉得非常感动。”
马泽尔显然也非常感动。音乐会后，他表示：“观众的反应好得不能再好了。我们也举行过一些非常成功的音乐会，但我们很长时间没见过这么热烈的反应了。”“当我们看到这种极其热烈的反应时，我们在想，或许这就是我们完成的使命。”