The New York Philharmonic bid farewell to Pyongyang on Wednesday, after taking part in a brief rehearsal and performance with North Korean musicians that drew a second packed audience.

Philharmonic music director Lorin Maazel, seen here arriving in Seoul on Wednesday, said he was 'totally blown away' after rehearsing with North Korea's state symphony orchestra.
(Lee Jin-man/Associated Press)

A day after the U.S. orchestra played its historic concert in the North Korean capital, members of the Philharmonic arrived for what was billed as a brief rehearsal and coaching session with the Communist nation's state symphony orchestra as well as an informal performance matching up four of the U.S. players with four North Korean peers.

However, they were greeted with a full audience at Pyongyang's Moranbong Theatre, and a North Korean orchestra that delivered a polished performance rather than a rehearsal session.

The skill of the North Korean players astounded Philharmonic musical director Lorin Maazel and U.S. delegation.

"I was just totally blown away," Maazel told the New York Times afterwards.

The Philharmonic players that took part in the cross-cultural musical match-up were also impressed by the proficiency of their counterparts.

"It seems like they are complete veterans in this music," concertmaster Glenn Dicterow told the Times.

"They are so attuned and sensitive to what we were doing," he said, adding however that the North Koreans could play even better if they had the use of higher-quality instruments.

Though it appeared to many media in the delegation that the Americans and their North Korean hosts had little verbal interaction, the U.S. players were nonetheless thrilled at the end of their landmark 48-hour visit.

"I don't think I could ever say that we have been moved so deeply by the response and the feeling coming from audience. It is beyond what we ever expected," bass player John Deak told Reuters.

"It was beyond expectations and beyond belief," Philharmonic executive director and president Zarin Mehta told Agence France-Presse at Pyongyang airport. "Everybody is extremely happy. The Koreans are happy, we are happy."

The Philharmonic delegation has since arrived in the South Korean capital of Seoul, where they were scheduled to perform a concert at the Seoul Arts Centre.