All language subtitles for Now Hear This PBS Handel Italian Style

-Up next, George Frideric Handel
was a German composer

who moved to London,
wrote the "Hallelujah" chorus,

and other master works,
and became

the most celebrated musician
of his day.

What allowed his great success?

Some say it was a four-year trip
to Italy.

I went there to see for myself.

That was a lot of work
getting up here.

-It's amazing.
-I hear and play

the music that inspired him.

♪♪

See the art, architecture,
and fashion

that surrounded him.

Can you imagine what he thought
when he saw this?

I'd walk where he walked,
drink what he drank,

and eat what he ate...

I won't ever be able
to eat pizza again.

...to discover how Italy shaped
this German composer

for the rest of his life.

-You cannot help but be changed
by Rome.

-Next on "Great Performance,"
"Handel: Italian Style,"

an episode for the new music
series "Now Hear This."

♪♪

-When Handel came to Italy,

the first thing he did
was learn Italian-style music

from masters like Corelli
in places like this,

the Santa Maria in Montesanto
Church in Rome.

-Incredible.
-I went there

with cellist Bob deMaine

to learn from one of today's
masters of Italian style,

Fabio Biondi.

-It's a very special place

because Handel conducted
his "Dixit Dominus" here.

-He was standing here.
-Yeah.

And Corelli played violin.

And it's the beginning
of this fantastic adventure.

And Italy, and especially
this moment,

was so important for Handel that
he remembered it during his life

until the end of his career
in London.

So, we have exactly the trio

for playing trio sonatas
like Corelli do.

Why we don't play
something together?

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-Beautiful music.
-It's beautiful.

-It's amazing.
I feel --

It's really nice to get
to play it with you, also.

-Oh, that's --
-I feel like I'm getting it

straight from the source.
-Also for me.

-It's really nice.
-Thank you.

And this is pure, genuine,
Italian style.

-Okay.
-So when Handel arrived

in Italy, trio sonata
was the most important format

in the beginning
of the 18th century.

And, of course, Corelli was

the most important composer
in Italy

for instrumental music.

And Handel respect
a lot Corelli,

and the relation
was very strong.

But at the same time, Handel,
of course,

want to absorb this style

and also show his capacity
to do the same thing.

So maybe we can play
Handel now.

-Sure.
-And please take my place.

-Okay.

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Clearly, Handel was influenced
by Italian music.

But it was popular
across Europe --

he didn't have to
come here to learn it.

What was it about Italy that
kept him here for four years?

And how did it shape
the rest of his life?

I went to
the American Academy of Rome

to see the great pianist
Daria van den Bercken,

who has spent the last few years
studying Handel.

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That was great, Daria.

-Oh, thanks!
-Fantastic.

So, when did Handel
come to Italy?

-He was young.

He was about 20
and very adventurous.

He was in Hamburg.
There's this funny story.

He actually met a member
of the Medici family in Hamburg,

who said that actually Handel
would like Rome

and the Italian style.

And Handel wasn't convinced
about that, but he came

and met all these composers,
from Scarlatti to Corelli,

but also violin makers
like Amati and --

-It's funny you mention Corelli,

because, yesterday, we played
a Corelli trio sonata.

And then, right after, we played
a Handel trio sonata,

and they almost sounded
like the same piece.

It was very,
very closely related.

-Well, they totally are,

because they have both
the same form.

Handel adopted that form --
slow, fast, slow, fast,

this Italian style.

And Corelli, actually,
that's also funny --

at the start, didn't really like
Handel's way of playing.

He said it should be
more elegant.

And so Handel also adopted that.

For instance,
in his violin sonatas,

they have this elegance to it.

So maybe we should play one?
-Sure.

-Would that be a good idea?
-Sure.

-Do you know the D major?
-Yep, a little bit.

-Let's do that.
-Okay.

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Many other composers have come
to Rome for inspiration.

The American Academy
has hosted several,

like Samuel Barber
and Philip Glass.

We asked their director
about the many things

that inspired them and Handel.

-You cannot help but be changed
by Rome,

whether it's a 2,000-year-old
ruin or a Baroque church.

You're affected not only by
the history and the archeology,

but the art,
the painting, the sculpture,

and, of course, the food.

-Maybe seeing great clothing
being made?

-See the light.
-Beautiful light.

-Rome is a city
of great history,

but it's also
a city of experimentation.

And Baroque architecture
we have to think of

as a radical experiment
in architecture.

It was really radical
at the time,

and Baroque music was really
emerging directly together

with the architecture...
-Wow.

-...with
these beautiful churches

creating new spaces for music.

And so we cannot think
of Baroque music

without the Baroque
architecture of Rome.

-So the Italian architecture
of Handel's time

was literally affecting
how he wrote,

because he was writing
for those spaces.

-Absolutely.

♪♪

-There are few people
more expert

about Baroque
architecture and music

than
Professor Jeffrey Blanchard.

I met him at
Sant'Andrea al Quirinale.

-Bernini designed this church
in 1658,

and it was completed by 1670.

So when Handel was here,
it was 35 years old.

-So he might have seen this?

-He certainly would
have seen it.

We're seeing it at a
particularly beautiful moment,

because the natural light
coming through the lantern

is illuminating those
gilded angels in rays of light.

And Bernini's very attentive
to using light

as if it's one
of his artistic media...

-[ Chuckles ] That's great.
-...putting together

architecture, sculpture,
painting,

and light, which has
a symbolic connotation --

it's the light of heaven
coming down.

In all of Bernini's churches,

he presents a theatrical story
like this, sacred in nature.

And every detail of the building
is carefully considered.

-Stunning.

-And certainly these are things

that Handel would have observed
carefully and absorbed.

Now, it's interesting --
we don't often think of Handel

as a prodigy, but he was.

He wrote music
when he was a kid.

He was an amazing performer
on the keyboard

when he was still very young.

But if we think of the most
famous of musical prodigies,

Mozart...

what Bernini and Mozart
have in common

is that their fathers were,
respectively,

a sculptor and a musician.

And they encouraged the genius

when they recognized it
in their young sons.

Handel's father,
who was a barber-surgeon

and a wealthy mercantile guy
in Halle,

didn't want his son
to be a musician.

He wanted him to be a lawyer.
-Hm.

-So they fought a lot.

But one of the local
princes insisted

that he be given
a musical education.

And fortunately,
Handel went in that direction.

♪♪

-Free from the pressure
of his father,

Handel was able to experience
and participate in an art scene

like he had never known before,

in places like
the Colonna Gallery.

[ Chuckling ] Whoa!

♪♪

Whoa!

♪♪

Oh, my God,
this doesn't look real!

♪♪

-This is arguably
the most magnificent

and stupefying palace interior
in all of Europe.

Handel certainly would
have seen this space.

-Can you imagine what he thought
when he saw this,

given that he was kind of from
a provincial town in Germany,

and then he comes here to Rome
and sees this?

-Yes, he would have been
knocked off his feet,

as we still are today,
centuries later.

-As I am!
-It reminds us,

if we think
of Handel's whole career,

that he takes away from Italy,
from those four years,

a love of this kind
of Baroque language and splendor

that's going to accompany him.

Think of the operas
and oratories

that he produces in England.

There's a magnificence
in all of that music

that has a lot to do
with this Italian culture

that's infused into him
as a young man.

-Handel experienced
the splendor of Rome,

not only in architecture.

I went to Tirelli Costumes,

who have created
spectacular wardrobes

for hundreds of operas.

Here, designer Sonu Mishra
showed me

their collection
of original clothing.

♪♪

-Scott, what you're about to see

are some of the most beautiful
clothing from the 1700s.

-Wait, this is --
this is not a reproduction --

this is actually
from the 1700s.

-Every piece is from the 1700s.

-I mean, how did this survive
that many years?

-They belonged to wealthy,
noble families in Italy.

So they had the possibility
of preserving them

in a much better way than
a regular person could have.

-I'm speechless.
I can't believe it.

-It's all hand-embroidered.

-I mean, each one of these
little details was done by hand.

-Yes.
-I mean, think about

how many of those there are!

That's so much work!

-Yes.
Hours and hours.

Weeks, perhaps months of work

would go into embroidering
these cloths,

which would then be made
into a suit for the man.

-What strikes me even looking
at this is there are

all these small, little
embellishments everywhere

that are not really necessary,
but they're nice.

-This was a part of
the whole Baroque period.

-Okay.

-Clothing were a part
of something bigger

than just utility.

And they wore clothing to show
off their position in society,

who they were,
where they belonged,

their wealth, their power.
-Mm-hmm.

-And all that went into
the details, you know?

It reminds me of a phrase,

of a term that came into use
in the 1500s in Italy

called
"sprezzatura."

-"Sprezzatura."
We have that term in music.

-Oh!
-Yeah, I just didn't know

where it came from.
-And it meant casual elegance.

Months might have gone
into making this outfit,

but perhaps the person
who wore it

wore it with such ease
and elegance

because he belonged
in that environment

where something like this
was a part of his daily life,

you know -- in a very
effortless, graceful manner.

-Huh. Interesting.
So maybe Handel picked that term

up here, "sprezzatura."
-Yeah.

-At least the concept.
-I think he might have,

because it's very relevant
to the culture at that time.

-When I was a child
studying Handel,

I remember thinking,
"Oh, I could write that.

Oh, that's simple.
It's very easy."

But now, of course, as an adult,

I realize that
you can't write that music.

It's genius-level music,
but it looks simple.

And then, these little buttons,
all of these little flowers,

you know,
we don't have flowers in music.

But we have the same ornaments
in music,

and many of them,
especially in the Baroque music.

Let me get my violin --
I'll show you what I mean.

So this is the Handel,
but unadorned, unornamented.

♪♪

Just --
That's it, just four notes.

And then, we have adorned music,
or ornamented music.

♪♪

And it doesn't change
the content of the music,

but it just gives it
a flower here,

and there's a lily there,
and so forth.

I'm just surprised
that I'm gaining insight

into Baroque music
by looking at Baroque clothing.

Who would have thought?

[ Indistinct conversations ]

I went to learn more about
the Baroque style of performance

from members of the Baroque
Orchestra of Santa Cecilia.

Paolo, you're telling me
that yesterday

you were playing
on a modern oboe.

-Yes.
-And now you're playing

on an ancient oboe --
what's the difference?

-[ Chuckling ] Oh!
Big difference.

Two different instruments,
two different way to play.

We try to play in a Baroque
style with old technique

and with lightness.

Normally, the modern instrument
in the big, modern orchestra

play in very intensive way.

♪♪

-Hey. Big sound.
-Big sound,

because the modern orchestra
is very big.

A lot of people, a lot of sound.

But when we play in Baroque era,

the ensemble were always
very little, very chamber music,

so very sweet.

♪♪

♪♪

-Hm. Much different.
-Yes.

-Much different.
-It's playing without effort.

Baldassare Castiglione
in 16th century

used this word --

"s
prezzatura."

It means playing without effort,
showing no difficulties.

-I've heard that word
three times now today.

-Yeah.
[ Both laugh ]

-So when we say we have to play

Baroque music with sprezzatura,

we have to play
Baroque music easy...

-Easy.
-...light and easy.

-Yes.
-But it's hard!

It's difficult.
-We try.

We try not to show
these difficulties.

-Right.
-Yeah.

That's right.
-We try not to show it.

-We have to work a lot to seem
we have not worked, so...

-You know,
I'd love to play this.

-Okay.
-Can we?

-We play together.
-Let's do it.

♪♪

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Jeffrey took me to Handel's
neighborhood in Rome,

overlooking
St. Peter's Cathedral.

So what did this part of Rome
have to do

with Handel's time here?

-Handel's patrons in Rome

included three cardinals
and a prince.

So we're in the area
where these patrons resided.

One of the common things
with artists,

when they come to a place,

is that they're given
hospitality by their patrons.

So Handel lived with
Prince Ruspoli in his palace,

which is right below
where we're standing,

and in his country residence.

So he would have not only known
the urban spaces,

the streets and the piazzas,

but also the interiors
of these grand houses.

♪♪

-So this is somebody's
actual house?

-Yes! The Colonna family has
been living in this house

since the 13th century.
-[ Chuckling ] Oh.

-And over those centuries,
they've produced many --

-That must be
some kind of record.

-Yes. Many extraordinary members
of the family,

including
a Cardinal Carlo Colonna,

who was one of Handel's patrons.
-Wow.

So this is
Handel's patron's house.

-Yes.
-Let's go inside.

-It was typical in these
families for the first son

to inherit the title
and the major properties,

the second son, typically,
had a military career,

and the third son
would enter the church...

-And that's what happened
in their family?

-...and at this level,
would became a Cardinal,

and that's exactly what happens
in this instance.

This is the Vanvitelli room,

where we have the most
important place on earth

to look at the paintings
of Caspar van Wittel,

a Dutch artist who arrives
in Rome in 1675

and, unlike Handel,
spends his whole career here.

-Okay.

-The Colonna
are his major patrons,

and we have 39 of his paintings
in this room.

And they show us Rome
and other Italian places,

including Venice and Naples,

pretty much like Handel
would have seen them.

-Wow.
-'Cause they're exactly from

the arc of time of his visit
and his subsequent visit.

-We were just there!
-We were!

And it looks
quite similar today.

What has changed?
The piazza has been paved.

We see the dome of St. Peter's
in the distance.

This is probably an ambassador
visiting the Pope.

The piazzas of Rome,
one of the names

by which they were called
was "theater."

-Hm.
-They were open-air theaters,

and very much related
to the theatrical life

that Handel
would have been involved.

-I can almost imagine Handel
being there.

That's him!
-Yes, you could imagine that.

He, also, of course,
goes to Naples,

another great opera city,

and the city that we associate
with the Scarlatti,

Alessandro Scarlatti
being the greatest figure

in the composition
of Italian opera

between Monteverdi
and Handel himself.

So in this city, we have
a very rich musical tradition

which includes the elevated
and the popular

from the upper echelons
of its court

to the popular music
of the streets.

-Hm.

♪♪

I decided it was time
to leave Rome,

to follow in Handel's footsteps.

And I would start in Naples,

where he went to study opera
with Alessandro Scarlatti.

Here, I met
Gianfranco Iervolino,

a master not only of Naples'
most popular food,

but also its popular music.

-Welcome to my operating room!
-[ Laughs ]

-This is a chef jacket.

-Thank you!
-Now I show you nice pizza.

-Okay!
-This is San Marzano.

I put just a little
Parmesan cheese...

-Okay.

-...just to make sweet
the sauce.

This is fresh basil from
the mountain here, from Vesuvio.

This is bufala --
it's really nice.

Try it.

♪♪

-Mmm! [ Chuckles ]
-Yeah.

-That is really good!
-It's like opera!

Yeah!
-Oh, it's incredible.

-[ Laughs ] Okay.

Oh. Very good.

Olive oil, all the time.

This is olive oil of Salerno.

-So, Gianfranco, when you're
making a pizza like this,

you have to use
really good ingredients

to be making a pizza as good
as the ones you make, right?

-Yes.
-The ingredient has to be good.

-Yeah. The ingredients is
the first thing

for make a nice pizza,

and I started to make pizza
when I was 13 years old.

And now I am 44.

[ Chuckles ]
So that's a long time.

For this job,
you need a lot of experience.

-Mm-hmm.

-And now I make some nice pizza
for you, and we eat together.

-Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
-What you think about that?

It's a good idea.
-I'll wait for you out there.

-Thank you.

♪♪

[ Singing in Italian ]

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[ Whistling ]

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[ Singing in Italian ]

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-[ Applauds ] Bravo!
-Thank you. Thank you.

Oh, thank you.
-You're a beautiful singer!

-Thank you.
Thank you very much.

Thank you.

-And here it is.
-Yeah.

This is pizza.

Okay.
Enjoy your meal, sir.

-Okay, thank you.
-[ Chuckles ]

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Oh, my God.

-It's very nice.
-I won't ever be able

to eat pizza again.

Oh. That's incredible.
It's just...

The crust is perfect.

-Yeah?
-They've been making this kind

of pizza here
for many, many years, right?

-Yeah.
-This Napolitano pizza.

-Yeah. It's born,
the pizza Napolitana,

200, nearly 300 years ago.

-And that's kind of like music,
right?

From Scarlatti's time,
they've been singing

in Italian here in Naples
since the 1600s, also.

-Yeah. Yeah.
That's true.

-Handel fell in love
with this kind of food

and this kind of music
in Naples.

From here, he traveled

with Alessandro Scarlatti
and his son Domenico,

staging operas in other cities
like Bologna.

I went there to meet
Fabio Biondi again.

[ Bell tolling ]

[ Tolling continues ]

[ Tolling continues ]

-Wow!

That was a lot of work
getting up here!

-[ Chuckling ] Yeah.
Did you see, Scott?

It's amazing.
-Yeah.

-We are in the tower --
-It's huge!

-Yeah. And when the bells sounds
all together,

the tower shift one meter.

-One meter?
-Yeah.

-It moves back and forth
a meter?

-Yeah.
-Really?

-Yeah! So it's enormous.

And, of course,
you have probably

the best view of Bologna here.

You can see everything,

how much was big --
is big and was big

also in the 18th century.

Why this town was so important?

Because there was a lot
of theater, opera theater,

and we jump again
in the relation

between Alessandro Scarlatti
and Handel.

-Alessandro Scarlatti being the
father of the keyboard composer.

-The father of
the keyboard composer.

-Okay.
-At this point,

Handel considered
Scarlatti really a fantastic,

probably the best opera
composer, vocal composer.

And we will play today,

if you want to stay with me
and play,

two arias --

one Scarlatti Alessandro,
and one Handel.

So we can compare and understand
this difference,

and, of course,
with Vivica Genaux.

-Oh, great!
She's amazing.

-She's amazing.
She's a big friend.

And maybe also talk about how
we play with Baroque bow today.

-Ah.
-That's extremely interesting

in terms of the relation

between the Baroque bow
and the modern bow.

-Hm.
[ Latches click ]

-And when you use a modern bow

for to have some articulation
like, you know...

♪♪

That's very difficult to...

♪♪

Play short...

♪♪

...because naturally
the modern bow give you...

♪♪

But with the Baroque bow,

you have immediately the right
articulation that's spiccato...

♪♪

-Hm.

-Because this is what
that bow give you.

But the same thing
with the modern?

It's difficult.
Try it.

-Ah. Okay, so...

♪♪

-That sounds good,
but a little unnatural.

And...

♪♪

-Oh, I see.

-Very interesting.
-Yeah.

-So more than the instrument,
I believe that the bow --

it's really very important
for our interpretation live.

-Isn't that interesting?

Because, I mean,
it's the same hair.

-Absolutely.
Yeah, of course.

-It's just horse hair.
Same violin.

-Same violin.
-Same rosin.

-But sounds
completely different.

-But sounds
completely different.

-Sometimes the bow sounds even
more different than the violin.

-I agree.
-You change the bow,

and you feel like
I have another violin.

-Mm-hmm.

-So I think the future
for the string player,

it's not to change
the violin, but...

-Change the bow.
-...to have a good collection

of bows.

-So this is what I'm going
to play some Scarlatti on?

-This is for me,
but this is for you.

-Oh, great!

-It's 18th century,
but a little later.

-Nice. Alright.

This is going to be fun!

♪♪

-[ Singing in Italian ]

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♪♪

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♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-Wow, Vivica, that is the best
I've ever heard!

-Thank you!
-You sound like

a million dollars!
-Thank you! Thank you very much.

-So, this is Scarlatti!

-This is Scarlatti, yeah.

Completely different --
even you can understand

how much Handel is maybe
more Italian than Scarlatti.

-The German is more Italian
than the Italian.

-Exactly.

He absorbed completely
the language in Italy.

Kind of to be extrovert
and narcissist,

typical of
the Italian culture...

[ Laughter ]

So the next aria
sounds really very virtuoso,

more than Scarlatti.

-Shall we play some extroverted,
narcissistic music?

-Exactly.
-Let's do it.

♪♪

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-[ Singing in Italian ]

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-From the beginning,

Italian comedy
informed Italian opera --

and informed Handel, too.

[ Laughter ]

In nearby Prato,

I went to see the
musical comedy team Duo Baldo

to learn more.

♪♪

[ Playing piano ]

[ Laughter ]

[ Applause ]

You are, arguably, the most
famous Italian musical comics.

What is the Italian style
of comedy?

-Well, it's a visual thing.

I mean, you can see the dynamics
going between

the two characters or --
-Physical comedy.

-Physical comedy.
It's very pure.

And sometimes you have to face
a problem,

and you have to solve it.

And that can lead to --
how do you say...

-Shenanigans.
-Yeah.

That's what I meant.

[ Laughter and applause ]

Shenanigans.

[ Applause continues ]

-What are we going to
hear tonight?

-We've added a piece
of music by Handel.

It's actually a transcription
for violin and piano.

-Okay.

-So this is actually
the first time

we're going to perform this
new arrangement this evening.

-Oh, excellent.
This is a world premiere!

[ Applause ]

-Enjoy.

[ Tuning violin ]

[ Tuning continues ]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[ Both stop ]

[ Laughter ]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[ Laughter ]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[ Laughter ]

-So it sounds like a lot
of these qualities

of Italian comedy
also exist in Italian opera.

-Oh, absolutely.

Number one, they talk
about everyday tasks,

like washing dishes.
How many...

Rossini, how many operas
did he write of simple tasks --

and they're just so funny
and well-constructed.

And we watch that,
whether there's singing or not,

but the stage direction puts it
together so that the audience --

whether they understand music
or the words -- they get it.

♪♪

-And Handel was really attracted
by Italian opera.

In fact, he wrote more
than 30 operas.

-In Italian?
-In Italian.

Like he was this German
with an Italian heart.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-Yeah!
[ Cheers and applause ]

[ Laughs ]

[ Applause continues ]

One final thing that must have
inspired Handel,

coming from rainy Germany,

is Italy itself --
the light and the landscape.

At Argiano Vineyards,
they've captured these in wine

for so long that Handel himself
may have tasted it.

I met their president,
Bernardino Sani.

-And it's very important time
of the year,

of course, the busiest time.
-Mm-hmm.

-And we do manual harvest
on the Oliveira vineyard,

on the Sangiovese.
-Uh-huh.

Manual harvest, meaning you

actually have people
picking the grapes?

-Exactly.

-You know, there's something
about this place

that feels very ancient to me.

-There's for sure this feeling
due to the fact

that this particular estate

has been producing wine
since the 16th century.

So, a long, long time ago --

always been a wine producer
for 500 years.

-Oh, my God!

What is the difference
between a vineyard here and,

say, a vineyard in California
or a vineyard in France?

What makes this vineyard
Italian?

-Everything that we do,
it comes from the history.

So when we make wine here,
we think of the water

my grandfather wanted to drink
on a regular basis,

and what are the best wine

that goes with
pappardelle al cinghiale,

for example,
our local food.

That's a whole different
philosophy in Italy

about wine-making
that comes from the history

and to the link with
the terroir, with the tradition.

That's very important.

-Tradition first.
-Tradition first.

♪♪

So here, the grapes arrive,

and they go into
the de-stemming machine.

So we separate, basically,
the green part from the berries.

♪♪

-That is so cool!

-And then,
those little things here,

they do a gentle press
on the grapes.

We want to leave them
almost entire.

Then they go down there,

and they get pumped into
the tank.

♪♪

So they end up like this,

and they do have the
fermentation inside the berries.

-Wow. So they're fermenting
right there.

-A little bit inside...

-Even though it looks
like a grape still.

-Exactly.

-The great piano improviser
Antonio Artese

met me at the winery,

and he brought his piano

to show me how
Handel's German melodies

were transformed by Italy.

♪♪

[ Laughs ]

♪♪

♪♪

-And so forth, so on.

So that's Beethoven,
obviously --

it's a bit off in terms of time.

But let's take these few notes
and transpose them, actually,

into the Italian
aria environment

that, you know,
Handel was listening to.

-Okay.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

You know, that amazed me
the last time we met,

and it's still amazes me
that you can do that, Antonio.

Bravo.
-Thank you. Thank you.

-What is going through your head
as you try to create this?

Are you really trying to
make it more Italian,

or does your brain access
the catalog

of Handel's music
that you know?

Like, how does that work?

-It works like --
you know, I feel...

I'm trying to put myself
in the shoes of Handel

composing this...
-Hm.

-...be surrounded by
what he heard at the time.

And, obviously,
this is more suitable

for a harpsichord style.
-Right.

-However, you know,
it's very simple, very concise,

and beautiful, all the lines.

So I imagine this,
and I come up with --

with a little style, you know,
mock for Handel's music.

-So what I'm getting from this
experience here at the vineyard

is that Italian-style wine
tastes like Italian-style wine

because it's from Italy.

And, also, Italian-style music
sounds like Italian-style music

because it's influenced
by Italy, as well.

-Absolutely.
As a second example,

I would like to play for you

is one of the inventions
by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Actually, Bach and Handel,

you know,
were born the same year,

almost in the same place,
100 miles, you know, apart.

And if Handel didn't
come to Italy

during his formative years,
most likely, you know,

he would have played,
you know, a melody like this.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

This is very simple.
Everyone knows this melody,

and, obviously, if you hear it
in a different context --

which is the Italian context
of beauty, you know,

of this energy coming in
that fuels the Renaissance --

then all of a sudden,
this very little precise

and geometric melody
becomes like...

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-So in some ways,
what you're saying is --

Handel equals Bach plus Italy.

-Yeah. I would say,
you know, it transforms.

It's like, you know,
an X function.

So the functionality
of being abroad,

which was a big thing, you know,

to be able
to absorb the culture --

to observe and absorb.
-Hm.

-So you can't forget the light.

You can't forget the beauty
of the landscape.

You can't forget, you know,
the beauty of this melodic line.

So every single time,
this style gets back,

and it gets so deeply absorbed

in those years of his formation
in Italy

that then we can experience it
in every single work afterwards.

-As Handel did,
I finally returned to Rome

for one more visit
with Daria van den Bercken.

So, Handel not only learned
from Italian composers,

but he really did learn
from Italian culture.

-Oh, I agree, absolutely.

-You know,
I've been traveling Italy

for the past, you know,
10 days or so,

and one common thread
through everything that I saw

was this sense of elegance.

-Oh, you know,
I can show that in his music,

in his most personal works

like the harpsichord suites,
this elegance.

Just listen to this.

♪♪

Pure elegance, right?
-Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

-It just goes on
for two more minutes.

-It feels weightless.
-It feels weightless.

-Yeah. Also, the appearance
of opera in his music.

-Oh, absolutely!

-The influence of Italian opera
in this German composer.

-You know, in this same suite,

you have this almost
recitativo-like start

as if an aria is coming.
-Hm.

-For instance, this...

♪♪

...orchestra,
and then the voice...

♪♪

♪♪

That's opera.
-You just need to remove

the right hand, add some words,
and add a singer,

and then that's a recitativo.

-And then you have a recitativo.
Absolutely.

-The other thing that we saw
that I found so interesting

was how everything was hand-made

and very,
very precisely crafted.

-And I guess here, Handel...

even Handel the German
just fit in Italy,

because he was...

for instance, in his fugue form,

absolutely the master
of this craftsmanship.

And, uh...

♪♪

You know, it's for voice,

but this very transparent
and genius, healthy fugue

finishes this suite
I was just playing for you.

-Hm.
-And it fits.

-That's nice.

And the final thing
that I saw a lot of in Italy

was this sense of purity.

You know, when they make wine,
they don't use any pesticides.

There seems to be something
very pure about Italian stuff.

-Absolutely.
Pure and transparent, like...

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-Recently, Daria took Handel
to the people,

playing the piano
across her native Amsterdam.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[ Applause ]

♪♪

With Daria's public performances
as inspiration,

Bob deMaine and I took Handel
back to the streets of Rome.

♪♪

♪♪

Surrounded by the art
and architecture,

the light and the energy
that inspired it,

Handel's music felt
as alive as ever.

And playing it here reminded me

how music is connected
to all art forms.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

After four years, Handel left
Italy, but it never left him.

He settled in London,

but continued to write operas
in Italian

and hired Italian singers
and musicians to perform them.

♪♪

In these, and all his music,
there was always

the splendor, elegance,
purity. and technique

that he imported
from the Italian style.

♪♪

Handel found his muse here,
as did Vivaldi in opera,

Bach in French dance,
and Domenico Scarlatti in Spain.

We all need inspiration.

I take mine from the work
of our greatest composers,

and I hope that you can, too.

♪♪

I'm Scott Yoo, reminding you
to "Now Hear This."

[ Choir singing ]

♪♪

-To order "Now Hear This"
on DVD or the companion CD,

visit shopPBS
or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

This program is also available
on Amazon Prime Video.

♪♪

To find out more about this

and other
"Great Performances" programs,

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♪♪

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