The largest invasion of Americans onto North Korean soil since the Korean War ended in musical celebration today when the New York Philharmonic played a landmark concert in Pyongyang to an audience of 2500.

The concert, which may hail a thaw in the long stand-off between the two countries, was greeted with a five-minute standing ovation by the assembled guests and dignitaries at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, among whom was North Korea’s deputy nuclear negotiator, Ri Gun. But the communist state’s secretive dictator, Kim Jong Il, did not attend the concert, which included performances of works by Dvorák, Gerswhin and Wagner, as well as the American national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.

Some 400 Americans had touched down on North Korean soil yesterday, the largest contingent of Americans to visit the isolated country since the Korean War ended in 1953. They included musicians, orchestra staff, production crews and 80 journalists, as well as patrons who paid $100,000 to attend. The concert was broadcast live on North Korean state television and radio, as well as around the world via a live relay on the internet.

Introducing Gershwin’s jazzy American in Paris, Lorin Maazel, the Philharmonic’s chief conductor, said, “Someday a composer may write a work entitled Americans in Pyongyang.” At one point the conductor also addressed the audience in Korean, and led a performance of a Korean folk song, Arirang, with six Korean musicians invited to take the stage and join in.

It was the first time that a major American cultural group has performed in North Korea. The visit, which has also included masterclasses with local students and Korean members of the orchestra, is widely believed to represent a new stage in the fraught relationship between the US and North Korea.

At a news conference held shortly before the performance, Mr Maazel drew a distinction between the concert and the orchestra’s famous 1959 visit to the Soviet Union.

“It showed Soviet citizens that they could have relations with foreign organisations and these organisations 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.”

Following the Philharmonic’s successful visit, Eric Clapton has reportedly been invited to perform in North Korea, despite a long-standing ban on rock and pop in North Korea.

The legendary singer and guitarist, 62, has been asked to travel to Pyongyang next year.

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