Liberty and music

It is perhaps the last living example of pure totalitarianism - control of the state over every aspect of human life. Is such a place the right venue for a Western orchestra? Can one imagine the New York Philharmonic, which performed to great acclaim in Pyongyang, entertaining Stalin or Hitler?

All totalitarian systems have one thing in common: by crushing all forms of political expression except adulation of the regime, they make everything political. There is no such thing in North Korea as non-political sports or culture.