Dan Wakin reports in today’s Times that local PBS affiliate WNET will broadcast the Feb. 26 concert by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang, North Korea. The concert will be shown on tape delay in order to account for the 12 hour time difference; it will be distributed on Feb. 28 to all PBS affiliates nationwide. Wakin reports that, ironically, North Korean officials have not yet confirmed that the concert will be broadcast locally: a major priority for Philharmonic officials, who are concerned that it will only be heard by the stooges in the concert hall.
Yesterday, Philharmonic Music Director Lorin Maazel stirred the pot by saying critics of the trip should pipe down and realize that the U.S. doesn’t exactly have a clean record when it comes to human rights abuses. You can read all about it here. Personally, I think it’s very cool that they’re going, and everyone (including the Phil’s PR peeps) should just shut up let them and play.