NYPhil in North Korea Liveblogging (For Reals This Time)
Ok folks, the listings have been checked and rechecked. Contact has been made with people at Channel Thirteen and it seems that the concert should be ready to stream after midnight tonight.
Everything is set. Allons-y!
0:00 The Channel 13 man has played fast and loose with the truth again. The video is already up. Sigh. Never mind. Time to get on with it.
0:03 Neil Shapiro with some chatter about ping pong ending in a cheesy pun. Not a good start. Over to Bob Woodruff for “it’s musical diplomacy and it’s next” Hurrah!
0:05 Shout out to Irene Diamond and her sponsorific colleagues. Without you, Miss Mussel would have to hear about this from other people. People with televisions.
0:08 Anyone else think Bob has preacher voice? No? Ok, think about it.
0:10 National anthem time. Aegukka is first. It’s quite a pleasant tune. That Kim Jong-Il thinks of everything. Maybe he could write something to replace God Save The Queen.
0:14 Ok, question about anthem etiquette. Miss Mussel’s hockey game experience tells her that the home anthem is played last so the fans can cheer/scream through the last line or two. There’s something fishy going on here and it’s not kimchee.
0:16 North Korea “a country so different from ours, it might as well be another planet” Why is the possibility of difference so difficult to comprehend?
0:20 “A nation repeatedly celebrating itself.” Hmmmm…maybe not so different after all, there Bob.
0:30 Ok. Concert is starting. It’s Wagner time. This is a great horn excerpt. Everyone going balls out.
0:32 Miss Mussel is trying to work out the logistics of playing flute with such an enormous walrus stache.
0:35 Rock it, low brass.
0:37 Is Bob on some sort of hallucinogenic drugs? Seriously. After three minutes of music he’s wondering if a connection has been made. Bob Woodruff–The Three Minute Diplomat
0:38 Kim Jong-Il as Leisure Suit Larry?
0:40 Now he’s getting trying to get digits from Madeleine Albright
0:43 A journalist mentioned in his write up that the Korean women were wearing traditional costumes to match the flowers at the front of the stage. Considering that there are flowers of practically all colours in the arrangement, the matching looks like more of an inevitability than another example of the horrors of totalitarian mind control.
0:50 The way the wrinkles on a balding man’s furrowed brow stop when they reach the original hairline never ceases to bring a smile to Miss Mussel’s face.
0:54Some brilliant cor anglais playing in the Dvorak slow movement. That must be why they pay him the big bucks.
0:56 Wait a minute…..a lot of eyes closed in the audience. Maybe things aren’t so different here.
1:01 Aaaaah…that fast bit in the slow movement brings back memories of a youth orchestra concert train wreck. Good times.
1:05 PBS has opted for quite possibly the most nonsensical cut in the history of editing. The last two notes of the second movement are included in the video of the third and fourth movements. In what sort of parallel universe does that decision appear to be at all logical?
1:10 Can any flautists out there tell me why both players are using unlacquered heads?
1:13 One audience member is actually asleep. No one’s neck hangs at that angle while its owner is fully conscious.
1:14 SHARKS IN THE HALL! Oh wait, no…it’s just the beginning of the end.
1:16 Now, it’s Woody the Woodpecker.
1:22 Oh no! Phil Meyers crapped up his solo. A little part of Miss Mussel has just died.
1:25 There are early clappers even in North Korea! Really, are we so different?
1:26 PIANO SCARF ALERT. We’re onto a musician interview segment. It looks like membership in the NY Phil and proximity to the big city doesn’t guarantee good taste.
1:30 Some audience smiles at the taxi horns in An American In Paris
1:39 Been trying to get a clear look the whole concert but it doesn’t appear as though Manhasset has made it through the DMZ.
1:43 The Phillers are really starting to feel the groove. No jazz hands in the audience as of yet but you will be kept posted.
1:48 Bob needs to zip it. Really. He’s getting annoying.
1:51 It’s encore time and they’re ripping through the Bizet. I know the back row gang is anxious to get to the bar but given the concert’s location….ummm…well….
1:58 Candide now. It’s kind of like watching a wind-up toy do it’s thing. They sound great although I find myself wondering if this additional piece was really necessary. On the other hand, if the news reports are to be believed, it’s doubtful concert goers will be racing to be first out of the carpark.
2:03 Bob signed off. Not a moment too soon.
2:04 Arirang, the Korean folksong. It’s lovely. Did the Bloomberg guy even listen to this?
2:06 Key change!
2:08 Big string swell and suspended cymbal into the reprise of the theme. Classic pops emotional manipulation. Nevertheless, things are getting a little misty around here.
2:09 A woman in the audience is singing along quietly. Bless.
2:12 *sniff*
2:13 BUY THE DVD NOW. CALL THE NUMBER ON YOUR SCREEN. Easy there PBS. Give us a moment to absorb all this before we head on over to the gift shop.
2:16 “It’s like touring the Soviet Union in 1976 only the food’s better.” (from an unnamed orchestra member)
On that note, it’s off to bed.
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