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[city noise]

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[distant instrumental
classical music]

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♪

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It's been said that music gives
a soul to the universe.

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And life to everything.

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♪

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Almost about 200 years ago,

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this grand space was the site

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of a long forgotten event,

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the first of its kind.

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An oratorio staged
as a benefit concert.

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♪

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And I think it's appropriate
that it happened here,

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in this neighborhood,
at the intersection

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of the old world
and the new.

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And this concert happened
at a crucial moment

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in the cultural history
of New York City

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and firmly set the city
on course to become the diverse

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and very vibrant center
for the arts it is today.

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[instrumental classical music]

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♪

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[harbor sounds, classical music]

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00:02:03,083 --> 00:02:06,792
♪

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00:02:06,875 --> 00:02:08,000
You have to imagine
New York City

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00:02:08,083 --> 00:02:10,750
in the early 1800's.

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00:02:10,834 --> 00:02:13,917
Now, at that point, it was
the largest city in the country

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00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,583
and it was growing day by day
with immigrants from Europe.

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00:02:18,667 --> 00:02:21,542
But culturally it was still
kind of a backwater.

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It was lagging
far behind Philadelphia

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and especially Boston,
where the arts were thriving.

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[male opera singer vocalizing]

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So you can understand
how meaningful

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00:02:32,166 --> 00:02:35,750
that night in 1826 was
to the life of this city

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when 2300 people crowded
into this great space

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to hear what was billed
as an event to far surpass

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00:02:43,834 --> 00:02:47,583
anything of the kind
ever produced in the union.

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Now, for many members
of the audience,

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it was their very first
exposure to music

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sung in an operatic style.

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♪

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[singing in foreign language]
♪ Graceful consort! ♪

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♪ Ev'ry moment brings ♪

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♪ new rapture, new rapture ♪

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♪ ev'ry care is put to rest... ♪

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♪

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The oratorio is one ingredient

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in this explosion
of musical culture here

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in the city, and it began here
at the old cathedral.

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It's remarkable, the history of
the Old St. Patrick's Cathedral

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and it's really been
an untapped gem.

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Most New Yorkers aren't even
aware that it even exists.

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The walls are original,
as I mentioned.

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This used to be the exterior
wall of the church...

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People are always rediscovering
the fascinating history

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and--and connections
to this church.

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...in the very spot
I'm standing on,

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this is where the baptism scene
of "The Godfather" was filmed.

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Michael,
do you renounce Satan?

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I do.
[organ music]

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Now we have one more stop
in front of this statue here

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before I take us up into the
choir loft. Over here we have...

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During one of my tours,
I bumped

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into these two gentlemen
from Italy.

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And it wasn't until afterwards

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that they
revealed to me who they were.

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And as a result of that meeting
and introduction,

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they had the Italian
government finance them

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to return here to recreate
that very oratorio

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that took place here
over 150 years ago.

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[classical music,
woman singing in Italian]

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♪

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[Renzetti speaking Italian]

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[Renzetti and woman
sing notes]

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[man singing opera
in Italian]

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[speaking Italian]

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[translation]

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[classical music]

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[singing in Italian]

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The opera company,
the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari,

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is working to recreate
that evening from 1826.

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So it's a gift from Italy
to America,

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from the old world to the new.

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[both speaking Italian]

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[translation]

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[city noise]

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We are in the crossroads
of New York City.

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You know, just geographically,
if you look at us on a map,

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you can see where we are.

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We're in the very center
of this vitality and creativity.

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But just a few years before
the cornerstone was laid

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in 1809, the city of New York
was not here.

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00:07:03,500 --> 00:07:06,709
This was rural up here,
and people complained

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about coming to
the consecration of the church.

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This was still outside
of the city:

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muddy roads and...

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orchards and farmland.

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[harbor sounds]

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But then, with immigration,
the city of New York went

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from little to very big
very quickly, and this was

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the cathedral church during
that tremendous age of growth

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with an immigrant population
that settled in this area

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basically Irish in the fore part
of the 19th century.

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[classical music]

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And then some years later,

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there was also this Italian
movement from Europe.

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♪

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One of the first and certainly
one of the most influential of

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these early Italian immigrants
was Lorenzo da Ponte.

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I had only known of him
as Mozart's librettist,

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not knowing of his connection
to this very church.

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00:08:06,709 --> 00:08:09,917
But it turns out
that he was the man

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behind the staging
of the 1826 oratorio.

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[translation]

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It's quite fascinating
to--to ponder

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that Mozart's librettist
ended up here

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in this neighborhood.

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In his old age,
he was a bookseller

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and a humble grocer,

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and he was a parishioner
at this church as well

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and lived
a fascinating life.

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00:09:05,125 --> 00:09:07,959
[classical music]

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00:09:08,041 --> 00:09:10,959
♪

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His life is somewhat
controversial, but you really

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have to get inside
the mind of this man.

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He was Jewish up
until 14 years old,

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and right after his bar mitzvah,
he was converted to Catholicism.

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♪

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His father could not
afford to house

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and board his own children,
so Lorenzo da Ponte

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was persuaded to enter
the priesthood.

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00:09:33,458 --> 00:09:37,166
Now, his stint as a priest
was short lived,

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00:09:37,250 --> 00:09:40,375
he had a little bit of
a controversy in his life.

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00:09:40,458 --> 00:09:44,417
He had numerous scandals
as a priest.

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He was chased out of places
for being a libertine.

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He consorted
with all sorts of women.

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Venice was a free-for-all
in those days.

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00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,667
Da Ponte himself was
a real Casanova,

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00:09:56,750 --> 00:09:58,417
so it's no coincidence
that he happened to be friends

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with Casanova.
Ha ha!

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00:10:01,625 --> 00:10:03,291
He lived
a very promiscuous life.

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00:10:03,375 --> 00:10:06,333
♪

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00:10:06,417 --> 00:10:09,291
There are all kinds of stories
about his time there,

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00:10:09,375 --> 00:10:13,500
including fathering
two children to his mistress

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00:10:13,583 --> 00:10:16,583
and living in a brothel.

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00:10:16,667 --> 00:10:19,625
So, not surprisingly,
he was accused

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00:10:19,709 --> 00:10:23,709
of living a lifestyle
unfit for a priest.

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00:10:23,792 --> 00:10:28,917
He fled the region and in his
absence was sentenced to prison.

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00:10:32,542 --> 00:10:36,000
[translation]

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00:10:46,667 --> 00:10:56,083
[speaking in Italian]

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00:10:56,166 --> 00:10:58,083
[translation]

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00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:18,417
[classical music, singing
in Italian]

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00:11:18,500 --> 00:11:21,500
♪

157
00:11:21,583 --> 00:11:24,583
[translation]

158
00:11:24,667 --> 00:11:31,083
♪

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00:11:37,250 --> 00:11:39,375
♪

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00:11:46,291 --> 00:11:48,667
♪

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00:12:00,500 --> 00:12:28,792
[classical music, singing in
Italian]

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00:12:28,875 --> 00:12:31,917
The oratorio is different
from an opera in that there's

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00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,834
no drama per se,
it's more like a concert.

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00:12:35,917 --> 00:12:38,959
This oratorio has sacred texts

165
00:12:39,041 --> 00:12:42,542
in Latin and English
and sort of a hodgepodge

166
00:12:42,625 --> 00:12:46,417
of composers and styles.

167
00:12:46,500 --> 00:13:03,583
[classical music, singing
in Italian]

168
00:13:03,667 --> 00:13:05,041
I'm not an authority on opera,
that's for sure,

169
00:13:05,125 --> 00:13:09,000
but I did grow up listening
to it, or perhaps I should say

170
00:13:09,083 --> 00:13:13,709
listening to sections
of operas and arias.

171
00:13:13,792 --> 00:13:15,834
A couple of hours before
my mother and father got home

172
00:13:15,917 --> 00:13:18,375
from work, in the apartment
I would sit there

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00:13:18,458 --> 00:13:21,834
and play these old 78s
my uncle gave me, and I wasn't

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00:13:21,917 --> 00:13:23,875
the only kid in the neighborhood
with these experiences.

175
00:13:23,959 --> 00:13:27,250
Many of my friends and I in our
teenage years - we'd get tickets

176
00:13:27,333 --> 00:13:30,291
to the old Met, the old
Metropolitan Opera House,

177
00:13:30,375 --> 00:13:32,792
way up in the cheap seats
or even the places where--

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00:13:32,875 --> 00:13:35,083
with just standing room, and
we'd sort of look down and just

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00:13:35,166 --> 00:13:37,875
marvel at the spectacle
of the opera as best we can.

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00:13:37,959 --> 00:13:52,208
[classical music, singing
in Italian]

181
00:13:52,291 --> 00:13:55,291
My grandparents,
who came from Sicily

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00:13:55,375 --> 00:13:57,458
around 1910,
they only spoke Sicilian,

183
00:13:57,542 --> 00:14:01,166
and they would sing occasionally
as they were working in the

184
00:14:01,250 --> 00:14:05,875
house, which was another way
I heard opera when I was young.

185
00:14:05,959 --> 00:14:07,834
I truly feel that music
and the daily lives

186
00:14:07,917 --> 00:14:10,583
of Italian Americans
are wedded forever.

187
00:14:10,667 --> 00:14:15,250
[traditional music]

188
00:14:15,333 --> 00:14:30,583
♪

189
00:14:30,667 --> 00:14:35,917
Now, the other key element
of music

190
00:14:36,041 --> 00:14:38,625
in this city and down here
were the Italian festivals,

191
00:14:38,709 --> 00:14:42,709
Italian feasts we call them,
and that's where we really

192
00:14:42,792 --> 00:14:45,542
became aware of all
the old Italian music,

193
00:14:45,625 --> 00:14:49,041
the Sicilian folk songs,
Neapolitan folk songs.

194
00:14:49,125 --> 00:14:51,500
They would have people
in a bandstand from Italy

195
00:14:51,583 --> 00:14:53,583
and come and sing two, you know,
two or three nights in a row

196
00:14:53,667 --> 00:14:56,417
till about 2:00
in the morning.

197
00:14:56,500 --> 00:14:59,667
And 'O Marenariello is
a very important piece of music

198
00:14:59,750 --> 00:15:03,792
that always ended the festival,
'O Marenariello, and I use it

199
00:15:03,875 --> 00:15:07,500
at the end of "Mean Streets."
It ends the film.

200
00:15:07,583 --> 00:15:19,500
[music, singing in Italian]

201
00:15:19,583 --> 00:15:28,542
[music, singing in Italian]

202
00:15:28,625 --> 00:15:30,917
[random organ notes]

203
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:41,792
♪

204
00:15:41,875 --> 00:15:43,667
Jared Lamenzo is
the organ master here

205
00:15:43,750 --> 00:15:46,041
at Old St. Patrick's.

206
00:15:46,125 --> 00:15:49,458
He's the one who has to
maintain this beautiful machine,

207
00:15:49,542 --> 00:15:51,709
which was built in 1868.

208
00:15:51,792 --> 00:15:54,250
All right. Here we are.

209
00:15:54,333 --> 00:15:56,875
I have an engineering
background.

210
00:15:56,959 --> 00:15:59,250
That's how I learned how to
tinker with mechanical things.

211
00:15:59,333 --> 00:16:01,208
That is not good.

212
00:16:01,291 --> 00:16:04,417
Those skills came in handy
dealing with the Erben organ,

213
00:16:04,500 --> 00:16:08,041
which I need to tinker with
to have it work.

214
00:16:12,208 --> 00:16:14,250
When you encounter
an instrument like this,

215
00:16:14,333 --> 00:16:17,625
you know a lot of great
organists must have played it.

216
00:16:17,709 --> 00:16:20,458
So one of the first things
I looked into

217
00:16:20,542 --> 00:16:21,834
was who those people were.

218
00:16:21,917 --> 00:16:25,834
And I went to find
newspaper clippings,

219
00:16:25,917 --> 00:16:30,083
whatever other references
in various books

220
00:16:30,166 --> 00:16:32,834
about the musical activities
in churches.

221
00:16:34,291 --> 00:16:38,917
And that's how I ran across
the 1826 program

222
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:40,542
for the oratorio.

223
00:16:40,625 --> 00:16:43,041
♪

224
00:16:43,125 --> 00:16:46,417
It was in an article
written in 1903

225
00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:49,750
in a book about the history
of Catholic New York.

226
00:16:49,834 --> 00:16:53,875
♪

227
00:16:53,959 --> 00:16:56,250
As far as I know,

228
00:16:56,333 --> 00:16:58,875
this is the only surviving
account of this event.

229
00:16:58,959 --> 00:17:02,166
An event which, until now,

230
00:17:02,250 --> 00:17:03,667
remained entirely lost
to history.

231
00:17:03,750 --> 00:17:08,083
♪

232
00:17:08,166 --> 00:17:11,125
I couldn't believe I had
found this.

233
00:17:11,208 --> 00:17:13,250
It was just
this incredible glimpse

234
00:17:13,333 --> 00:17:15,917
into the musical life
in New York City,

235
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,917
and there's very little
from that time period available.

236
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,083
♪

237
00:17:23,166 --> 00:17:25,834
It mentioned this was
the first Italian opera company

238
00:17:25,917 --> 00:17:28,333
ever to arrive
on the shores of America.

239
00:17:28,417 --> 00:17:30,583
And clearly that was
an important moment

240
00:17:30,667 --> 00:17:34,625
in the history of music and
really an international story

241
00:17:34,709 --> 00:17:36,583
waiting to be told.

242
00:17:36,667 --> 00:17:39,500
♪

243
00:17:39,583 --> 00:17:40,834
So immediately when I
found the program,

244
00:17:40,917 --> 00:17:44,208
I wanted to recreate it.

245
00:17:44,291 --> 00:17:47,000
I just didn't have all
the music to do it,

246
00:17:47,083 --> 00:17:49,458
so I'd been looking around
over the years

247
00:17:49,542 --> 00:17:52,583
at various sources
to find the music.

248
00:17:52,667 --> 00:17:54,542
♪

249
00:17:54,625 --> 00:17:57,959
But some of it was just
impossible to find.

250
00:17:58,041 --> 00:18:01,500
I had no idea the answers
were waiting to be found

251
00:18:01,583 --> 00:18:03,166
halfway around the world.

252
00:18:03,250 --> 00:18:06,125
[city noise, street music]

253
00:18:06,208 --> 00:18:16,083
♪

254
00:18:16,166 --> 00:18:18,792
[translation for Italian accent]

255
00:18:48,458 --> 00:18:50,750
♪

256
00:18:50,834 --> 00:18:55,250
Francesco Zimei is
a world-famous musicologist.

257
00:18:55,333 --> 00:18:58,709
He's been working to recreate
the original musical program.

258
00:18:58,792 --> 00:19:01,500
And he's had the task of finding
pieces of the original

259
00:19:01,583 --> 00:19:05,542
Italian arias that have
since gone missing.

260
00:19:05,625 --> 00:19:09,542
[classical music]

261
00:19:27,458 --> 00:19:41,291
♪

262
00:19:56,959 --> 00:20:01,625
♪

263
00:20:15,875 --> 00:20:19,834
♪

264
00:20:38,667 --> 00:20:40,458
[classical music]

265
00:20:40,542 --> 00:20:46,500
♪

266
00:20:46,583 --> 00:20:50,041
So after fleeing Venice, Da
Ponte finds his way to Vienna,

267
00:20:50,125 --> 00:20:53,000
the musical capital
of the world,

268
00:20:53,083 --> 00:20:56,166
and he is appointed
the court poet.

269
00:20:56,250 --> 00:20:59,083
Just by a simple recommendation
of Casanova,

270
00:20:59,166 --> 00:21:02,709
he's in the court
of Emperor Joseph.

271
00:21:02,792 --> 00:21:07,125
He was once again able to enjoy
his libertine lifestyle.

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00:21:07,208 --> 00:21:11,000
♪

273
00:21:11,083 --> 00:21:14,709
And so it's no surprise
that while in Vienna,

274
00:21:14,792 --> 00:21:17,875
he happened to cross paths
with another libertine

275
00:21:17,959 --> 00:21:19,083
living a similar lifestyle

276
00:21:19,166 --> 00:21:22,000
by the name
of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

277
00:21:22,083 --> 00:21:23,917
[classical music]

278
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:26,000
♪

279
00:21:26,083 --> 00:21:29,834
[translation for Italian accent]

280
00:21:34,291 --> 00:21:37,792
As Mozart's librettist,
Da Ponte was responsible

281
00:21:37,875 --> 00:21:43,208
for the dramatic text around
which the music is based.

282
00:21:43,291 --> 00:21:45,125
Together, they created
dramatic effects

283
00:21:45,208 --> 00:21:48,667
that had never been
heard before.

284
00:21:48,750 --> 00:21:50,041
[classical music]

285
00:21:50,125 --> 00:21:53,709
♪

286
00:21:53,792 --> 00:21:57,458
The music was married
to the drama in a whole new way.

287
00:21:57,542 --> 00:21:59,041
♪

288
00:21:59,125 --> 00:22:02,959
[translation for Italian accent]

289
00:22:07,917 --> 00:22:09,750
[man singing in Italian]

290
00:22:09,834 --> 00:22:12,709
Da Ponte helped Mozart write
"The Marriage of Figaro,"

291
00:22:12,792 --> 00:22:17,208
"Così fan tutte," and one
of my all-time favorites,

292
00:22:17,291 --> 00:22:20,166
"Don Giovanni,"
which, by the way,

293
00:22:20,250 --> 00:22:23,667
is supposedly a narrative
of Mozart's life,

294
00:22:23,750 --> 00:22:26,041
but looking
at Da Ponte's life,

295
00:22:26,125 --> 00:22:29,208
he was really the Don Juan
between the two of them.

296
00:22:29,291 --> 00:22:41,959
[opera music, singing in
Italian]

297
00:22:42,041 --> 00:22:45,500
After several scandals,
love affairs,

298
00:22:45,583 --> 00:22:48,083
scheming,
and prima donna behavior,

299
00:22:48,166 --> 00:22:52,417
Da Ponte had fallen out of favor
with the new emperor...

300
00:22:52,500 --> 00:22:53,208
♪

301
00:22:53,291 --> 00:22:56,417
and was banished
from Vienna.

302
00:22:56,500 --> 00:22:58,041
♪

303
00:22:58,125 --> 00:23:01,083
Da Ponte is forced out
of the very city

304
00:23:01,166 --> 00:23:03,583
that would have been
his bread and butter,

305
00:23:03,667 --> 00:23:07,542
the city of music, and he
has to reinvent himself.

306
00:23:07,625 --> 00:23:10,959
♪

307
00:23:11,041 --> 00:23:21,041
[organ music]

308
00:23:21,125 --> 00:23:24,375
Well, I think
that all churches

309
00:23:24,458 --> 00:23:26,417
are generally filled

310
00:23:26,500 --> 00:23:29,125
with a motley crew of people,

311
00:23:29,208 --> 00:23:31,125
but I think because

312
00:23:31,208 --> 00:23:34,750
St. Patrick's is

313
00:23:34,834 --> 00:23:37,250
filled with such
a unique combination

314
00:23:37,333 --> 00:23:40,500
of multigenerational Italians,

315
00:23:40,583 --> 00:23:44,417
Dominicans, we're close
to Chinatown.

316
00:23:44,500 --> 00:23:47,750
And it's also because it has
such a sense of community

317
00:23:47,834 --> 00:23:51,000
that it attracts Catholics
from throughout the island

318
00:23:51,083 --> 00:23:53,125
of Manhattan, that it's
a very eclectic group.

319
00:23:53,208 --> 00:23:57,291
And so she--I can never get her
to leave when church is over.

320
00:23:57,375 --> 00:24:00,583
She's always like, "Let's stay
and talk to the weirdest people

321
00:24:00,667 --> 00:24:04,000
here," 'cause you--after church,
you will find the most...

322
00:24:04,083 --> 00:24:07,500
There's someone who brings
a dog, like "My dog's Catholic."

323
00:24:07,583 --> 00:24:09,333
The dog's painted.
It's not just a dog.

324
00:24:09,417 --> 00:24:11,000
The dog is painted
a different color.

325
00:24:11,083 --> 00:24:14,500
So like on Easter, it's like
Easter-colored painted dog.

326
00:24:14,583 --> 00:24:17,125
It's like, yeah, that's the
person with a dog at our church.

327
00:24:17,208 --> 00:24:19,041
Anywhere else in
the world, people are like,

328
00:24:19,125 --> 00:24:21,166
"You can't bring
a painted dog to church."

329
00:24:21,250 --> 00:24:24,083
But it's like, "All right,
it's New York."

330
00:24:24,166 --> 00:24:26,583
Great day, guys.

331
00:24:26,667 --> 00:24:29,208
This church has become just kind
of central in our lives.

332
00:24:29,291 --> 00:24:31,709
Yeah, it's interesting
to look at the church

333
00:24:31,792 --> 00:24:34,208
and to see that, you know,
it's a piece of history

334
00:24:34,291 --> 00:24:38,208
and it has this presence
in our life.

335
00:24:38,291 --> 00:24:40,583
Got married there,

336
00:24:40,667 --> 00:24:43,291
had all our kids baptized
there and, you know,

337
00:24:43,375 --> 00:24:47,208
and I'll probably die there.
Ha ha.

338
00:24:47,291 --> 00:24:49,875
[instrumental music]

339
00:24:49,959 --> 00:24:51,417
♪

340
00:24:51,500 --> 00:24:56,375
So to truly understand the story
of this old cathedral,

341
00:24:56,458 --> 00:25:01,542
you have to understand the
story of its chief benefactor:

342
00:25:01,625 --> 00:25:06,041
a freed slave by the name
of Pierre Toussaint.

343
00:25:06,125 --> 00:25:09,750
He was originally laid to rest
in the north cemetery here,

344
00:25:09,834 --> 00:25:15,208
but because of his
benefactoral work and charity,

345
00:25:15,291 --> 00:25:17,709
he's been put
on the path to sainthood

346
00:25:17,792 --> 00:25:19,709
and he was removed
from the cemetery here.

347
00:25:19,792 --> 00:25:22,208
He's actually up
in St. Patrick's in Midtown.

348
00:25:22,291 --> 00:25:24,250
He's now the Venerable
Pierre Toussaint.

349
00:25:24,333 --> 00:25:27,291
♪

350
00:25:27,375 --> 00:25:31,250
Very intriguing story and most
people haven't even heard of -

351
00:25:31,333 --> 00:25:35,792
started off as a Haitian slave
and was brought over here

352
00:25:35,875 --> 00:25:38,083
by a French family;
it was actually the family

353
00:25:38,166 --> 00:25:42,083
that owned him, the Bérards.
Mr. Bérard had passed away.

354
00:25:42,166 --> 00:25:44,917
His wife was left
with no source of income now,

355
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,000
and so Pierre decided to
become a hairdresser

356
00:25:49,083 --> 00:25:52,500
and he became so talented
and successful,

357
00:25:52,583 --> 00:25:55,000
he actually tapped
into the cream of society.

358
00:25:55,083 --> 00:25:57,458
This man was doing the hair
of Mrs. Hamilton,

359
00:25:57,542 --> 00:26:00,583
Alexander Hamilton's wife,
and Mrs. Livingston,

360
00:26:00,667 --> 00:26:02,667
all the wealthy women
of New York.

361
00:26:02,750 --> 00:26:05,083
And we're talking about women
who spent over a thousand

362
00:26:05,166 --> 00:26:08,583
dollars a year on hair.
This was in the late 1700s.

363
00:26:08,667 --> 00:26:11,208
Now, he was able to support
the woman that owned him,

364
00:26:11,291 --> 00:26:16,417
the entire family,
and so in exchange for that,

365
00:26:16,500 --> 00:26:19,000
she allowed Pierre to buy
his freedom, and he

366
00:26:19,083 --> 00:26:21,000
bought the freedom
of his sister, his niece,

367
00:26:21,083 --> 00:26:22,959
and the woman he would
ultimately marry.

368
00:26:23,041 --> 00:26:24,250
Now, through all
of these challenges,

369
00:26:24,333 --> 00:26:26,583
he remained
a devout Catholic.

370
00:26:26,667 --> 00:26:30,625
He actually never missed
a morning mass in 66 years.

371
00:26:30,709 --> 00:26:34,041
And then when St. Peters planned
to have the cathedral built,

372
00:26:34,125 --> 00:26:36,583
he was the first one
to step up and said,

373
00:26:36,667 --> 00:26:38,333
"I will finance the
construction of the cathedral."

374
00:26:38,417 --> 00:26:43,125
He was the biggest contributor
to having this church built.

375
00:26:43,208 --> 00:26:46,083
[instrumental music]

376
00:26:46,166 --> 00:26:47,917
[bird chirps]

377
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:49,458
♪

378
00:26:49,542 --> 00:26:51,250
St. Patrick's was my church.

379
00:26:51,333 --> 00:26:54,083
I lived just around the corner

380
00:26:54,166 --> 00:26:57,542
in a walk-up tenement apartment
on Elizabeth Street.

381
00:26:57,625 --> 00:27:01,166
In the 1920s, this was
an Irish neighborhood,

382
00:27:01,250 --> 00:27:03,542
but by the time I was growing
up in the 40s and 50s,

383
00:27:03,625 --> 00:27:06,542
it had become Italian,
or I should say

384
00:27:06,625 --> 00:27:09,583
that it was Sicilian
on Elizabeth Street,

385
00:27:09,667 --> 00:27:12,458
Neapolitan on Mulberry,
and sort of mixed

386
00:27:12,542 --> 00:27:14,291
on Mott Street somehow.

387
00:27:14,375 --> 00:27:17,041
My grandparents'
and parents' time,

388
00:27:17,125 --> 00:27:19,041
it was actually building
by building -

389
00:27:19,125 --> 00:27:21,834
people from a small village
in the old country

390
00:27:21,917 --> 00:27:23,917
found themselves
in one building,

391
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:28,000
then from another small village
next door, and so on.

392
00:27:28,083 --> 00:27:31,000
[traditional music]

393
00:27:31,083 --> 00:27:33,125
[city noise]

394
00:27:33,208 --> 00:27:35,041
[birds chirping]

395
00:27:35,125 --> 00:27:39,041
This church was really
the center of all the activities

396
00:27:39,125 --> 00:27:41,125
of this neighborhood,
and it goes way back.

397
00:27:41,208 --> 00:27:44,333
This courtyard, for example,
was very important.

398
00:27:44,417 --> 00:27:45,583
We played in here all the time.

399
00:27:45,667 --> 00:27:50,083
We hid in the graveyard and,
you know, all kinds of things.

400
00:27:50,166 --> 00:27:53,208
It was kind of a refuge;
come in here and, you know,

401
00:27:53,291 --> 00:27:55,625
you hide out if you're
in trouble, whatever.

402
00:27:55,709 --> 00:27:59,125
But...as we got a little older,

403
00:27:59,208 --> 00:28:01,333
we stayed out very late
on Saturday nights

404
00:28:01,417 --> 00:28:05,542
and stumbled
into the 12:30 mass.

405
00:28:05,625 --> 00:28:09,083
And we stood up in the back
usually and came in

406
00:28:09,166 --> 00:28:12,875
a little late, you know, and
come in late and leave early.

407
00:28:12,959 --> 00:28:15,041
And after a while, the priests
caught on to that

408
00:28:15,125 --> 00:28:18,250
and they would insist
that we come and sit down.

409
00:28:18,333 --> 00:28:20,709
But this place was,
in a sense, something

410
00:28:20,792 --> 00:28:23,875
that ultimately affected the way
I view the world

411
00:28:23,959 --> 00:28:26,750
and the way I hear the world
and through my work.

412
00:28:26,834 --> 00:28:30,333
And this is where it came from,
this area right here.

413
00:28:30,417 --> 00:28:34,458
[indistinct chatter]

414
00:28:34,542 --> 00:28:37,375
Growing up here,
you know, in 1949,

415
00:28:37,458 --> 00:28:41,291
all the way up to 65, 66,

416
00:28:41,375 --> 00:28:45,375
music was something that was
in the air - it was constant.

417
00:28:45,458 --> 00:28:50,500
And, you know, this place was
not a - it was not that private,

418
00:28:50,583 --> 00:28:53,125
everyone could hear everything,

419
00:28:53,208 --> 00:28:55,291
everybody knew what was going on
in the other apartment

420
00:28:55,375 --> 00:28:58,291
and also they listened
to the music; if your taste was

421
00:28:58,375 --> 00:29:00,250
a certain kind - playing
a record over and over again -

422
00:29:00,333 --> 00:29:02,542
that's what you heard.
Then you had jukeboxes here,

423
00:29:02,625 --> 00:29:04,333
too, and jukeboxes had
that incredible sound,

424
00:29:04,417 --> 00:29:07,417
the sound that would just go
through the streets at night.

425
00:29:07,500 --> 00:29:11,041
[rock music]

426
00:29:11,125 --> 00:29:21,458
♪

427
00:29:21,542 --> 00:29:24,667
But you got to imagine,
particularly in the summer,

428
00:29:24,750 --> 00:29:28,041
with the windows open,
people's radios playing

429
00:29:28,125 --> 00:29:30,959
American pop music,
American standards,

430
00:29:31,041 --> 00:29:33,458
the late 40s,
all the way to swing,

431
00:29:33,542 --> 00:29:36,041
jazz, the beginnings
of rock and roll,

432
00:29:36,125 --> 00:29:38,959
all of this emanating from
everywhere, everywhere,

433
00:29:39,041 --> 00:29:42,500
including classical music
and opera,

434
00:29:42,583 --> 00:29:45,709
which for me was
very important.

435
00:29:45,792 --> 00:29:52,709
[opera music, singing in
Italian]

436
00:29:52,792 --> 00:29:54,792
And I still have a relationship

437
00:29:54,875 --> 00:29:56,792
to opera and arias of that time.

438
00:29:56,875 --> 00:29:58,792
I'm always allowing that music

439
00:29:58,875 --> 00:30:00,792
to guide me in daydreaming up

440
00:30:00,875 --> 00:30:02,750
new visual stories
or visual images.

441
00:30:02,834 --> 00:30:08,959
[opera music, singing in
Italian]

442
00:30:09,041 --> 00:30:11,125
I think of like the antithesis

443
00:30:11,208 --> 00:30:13,041
of what I would want
to see is an opera.

444
00:30:13,125 --> 00:30:15,458
I don't know - I don't know
anything about opera.

445
00:30:15,542 --> 00:30:18,041
My grandmother was
an opera singer.

446
00:30:18,125 --> 00:30:20,709
So it's actually - it's in
my blood to like opera.

447
00:30:20,792 --> 00:30:22,542
Opera is amazing.

448
00:30:22,625 --> 00:30:25,250
It's just not like
a mainstream thing anymore,

449
00:30:25,333 --> 00:30:27,125
and if this concert
could bring it back

450
00:30:27,208 --> 00:30:29,959
and bring it to this
neighborhood, that's amazing.

451
00:30:30,041 --> 00:30:31,625
And I would love to expose
my kids to opera because it's in

452
00:30:31,709 --> 00:30:35,542
their roots and then him too,
he needs some culture too.

453
00:30:35,625 --> 00:30:37,583
I need some culture.
He needs culture.

454
00:30:37,667 --> 00:30:40,417
[piano playing]
OK, let's do

455
00:30:40,500 --> 00:30:43,583
♪ I love to sing ♪
Breathe.

456
00:30:43,667 --> 00:30:46,625
♪ I love to sing ♪

457
00:30:46,709 --> 00:30:48,667
For me, music is this language.

458
00:30:48,750 --> 00:30:51,583
I'm not somebody who plays
an instrument,

459
00:30:51,667 --> 00:30:54,875
I'm not somebody
who really understands it,

460
00:30:54,959 --> 00:30:57,792
but it's something
that I'm grateful

461
00:30:57,875 --> 00:30:59,750
that we've instilled
in all our children,

462
00:30:59,834 --> 00:31:03,792
because music is
is this rare language

463
00:31:03,875 --> 00:31:07,709
that is the language
of creativity.

464
00:31:07,792 --> 00:31:09,667
[instrumental music]

465
00:31:09,750 --> 00:31:13,208
[translation]

466
00:31:39,709 --> 00:31:41,542
[piano music]

467
00:31:41,625 --> 00:32:10,667
♪

468
00:32:10,750 --> 00:32:14,542
[speaking foreign language]

469
00:32:14,625 --> 00:32:20,583
♪

470
00:32:20,667 --> 00:32:23,625
[translation]

471
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:32,709
♪

472
00:32:32,792 --> 00:32:35,917
[cello music]

473
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:53,792
♪

474
00:32:53,875 --> 00:32:57,333
[translation]

475
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:10,542
[orchestra rehearsing]

476
00:33:10,625 --> 00:33:18,625
♪

477
00:33:18,709 --> 00:33:22,625
[speaking Italian]

478
00:33:22,709 --> 00:33:32,792
[woman and man singing in
Italian]

479
00:33:32,875 --> 00:33:36,291
[translation]

480
00:33:53,333 --> 00:33:54,709
[woman and man sing in Italian]

481
00:33:54,792 --> 00:34:04,709
♪

482
00:34:06,083 --> 00:34:09,500
♪

483
00:34:09,583 --> 00:34:12,500
One of the really interesting
things about the oratorio

484
00:34:12,583 --> 00:34:16,500
is that it was an early
showcase for Maria Malibran

485
00:34:16,583 --> 00:34:18,959
and she would become the most
famous and beloved singer

486
00:34:19,041 --> 00:34:22,458
of her time, a singer
who defined her era

487
00:34:22,542 --> 00:34:25,875
and truly was the first
opera diva in the world.

488
00:34:25,959 --> 00:34:28,875
[translation]

489
00:34:34,959 --> 00:34:37,458
After the concert in 1826,

490
00:34:37,542 --> 00:34:40,166
young women living
in households with pianos

491
00:34:40,250 --> 00:34:42,000
wanted to take singing lessons.

492
00:34:42,083 --> 00:34:45,208
They dreamed of becoming divas
like Maria Malibran.

493
00:34:45,834 --> 00:34:48,750
[translation]

494
00:34:59,875 --> 00:35:02,583
[translation]

495
00:35:08,417 --> 00:35:11,250
It does not exist, the person
who can sing

496
00:35:11,333 --> 00:35:14,709
this kind of repertoire
and sings everything.

497
00:35:14,792 --> 00:35:15,834
Yeah.

498
00:35:15,917 --> 00:35:32,417
[classical music, singing
in Italian]

499
00:35:32,500 --> 00:35:35,041
I'm performing, for example,
Domine Deus.

500
00:35:35,125 --> 00:35:39,000
It's an alto register.
And what are you singing?

501
00:35:39,083 --> 00:35:41,625
Yeah, I sing With Verdu Clad

502
00:35:41,709 --> 00:35:45,583
and Let the Bright Seraphim -
with all the coloratura,

503
00:35:45,667 --> 00:35:50,000
it's high and different
from Domine Deus.

504
00:35:50,083 --> 00:35:51,375
Absolutely different.

505
00:35:51,458 --> 00:36:00,959
[classical music, singing
in Italian]

506
00:36:01,041 --> 00:36:04,375
[translation]

507
00:36:04,458 --> 00:36:09,000
Yeah, together,
we make Maria Malibran.

508
00:36:09,083 --> 00:36:22,500
[classical music, singing
in Italian]

509
00:36:22,583 --> 00:36:24,542
[translation]

510
00:36:27,333 --> 00:36:30,917
I looked... for years
trying to find...

511
00:36:33,166 --> 00:36:35,333
[translation]

512
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:23,083
[piano music]

513
00:37:29,333 --> 00:37:31,750
♪

514
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:43,000
♪

515
00:37:43,083 --> 00:37:45,667
[classical music]

516
00:37:45,750 --> 00:37:52,250
♪

517
00:37:52,333 --> 00:37:57,375
So Da Ponte found himself
banished once again.

518
00:37:57,458 --> 00:38:00,333
He set out for Paris, hoping
to secure a position

519
00:38:00,417 --> 00:38:02,083
in the court
of Marie Antoinette,

520
00:38:02,166 --> 00:38:06,000
whose brother was actually
Da Ponte's most recent patron.

521
00:38:06,083 --> 00:38:09,000
♪

522
00:38:09,083 --> 00:38:11,125
During his journey,
he must have caught word

523
00:38:11,208 --> 00:38:13,083
that the party was over.

524
00:38:13,166 --> 00:38:15,166
[guillotine slices]

525
00:38:15,250 --> 00:38:19,125
So he altered course for London.

526
00:38:21,750 --> 00:38:23,667
[translation]

527
00:38:32,417 --> 00:38:34,375
Da Ponte could never
pay his bills

528
00:38:34,458 --> 00:38:37,875
and always wanted
to purchase more books.

529
00:38:37,959 --> 00:38:40,875
He was not a good businessman.

530
00:38:40,959 --> 00:38:42,875
He wasn't able to adapt

531
00:38:42,959 --> 00:38:46,208
and was not able to secure
himself financially,

532
00:38:46,291 --> 00:38:49,542
and after several failed
attempts at business,

533
00:38:49,625 --> 00:38:52,458
he got himself in trouble
yet again

534
00:38:52,542 --> 00:38:55,250
and was forced out of London.

535
00:38:57,709 --> 00:39:00,709
He sets his sights
on a new country

536
00:39:00,792 --> 00:39:03,667
still in its infancy
called America,

537
00:39:03,750 --> 00:39:08,458
and eventually finds his way
right here to New York City.

538
00:39:12,709 --> 00:39:14,625
[translation]

539
00:39:24,166 --> 00:39:27,083
[translation]

540
00:39:45,917 --> 00:39:49,875
Da Ponte also seemed
to reconnect with his faith,

541
00:39:49,959 --> 00:39:53,417
putting his life of debauchery
behind him

542
00:39:53,500 --> 00:39:57,166
and actually became a devout
parishioner of this cathedral.

543
00:39:57,250 --> 00:39:59,500
[city noise]

544
00:40:05,500 --> 00:40:09,375
So we're now in the south
cemetery of the basilica here.

545
00:40:09,458 --> 00:40:12,166
This cemetery is unique
because we have

546
00:40:12,250 --> 00:40:14,750
this wall around
the whole perimeter here.

547
00:40:14,834 --> 00:40:18,792
Now, we believe the wall was
built a year after

548
00:40:18,875 --> 00:40:21,750
the burning of St. Mary's Church
down on Grant Street,

549
00:40:21,834 --> 00:40:23,166
burned down
by the nativist gangs,

550
00:40:23,250 --> 00:40:28,500
gangs like the Bowery Boys
that were anti-Catholic and all.

551
00:40:28,583 --> 00:40:31,250
Back in 1844, there was

552
00:40:31,333 --> 00:40:33,750
real reaction
against immigrants coming in.

553
00:40:33,834 --> 00:40:38,250
The nativists, the "Americans"
did not want the Irish in.

554
00:40:38,333 --> 00:40:40,333
This was a movement

555
00:40:40,417 --> 00:40:44,000
of first and second generation
born New Yorkers.

556
00:40:44,083 --> 00:40:46,625
They didn't like immigrants, OK?

557
00:40:46,709 --> 00:40:48,083
The wall was actually built
as a defense point

558
00:40:48,166 --> 00:40:52,709
so that the Irish Catholics
of the cathedral here

559
00:40:52,792 --> 00:40:56,250
could defend this church from
ever being burned down as well.

560
00:40:56,333 --> 00:40:59,875
Archbishop Hughes was
the archbishop of the city,

561
00:40:59,959 --> 00:41:01,333
the Catholic community.

562
00:41:01,417 --> 00:41:06,041
But groups called the Know
Nothings attacked the church,

563
00:41:06,125 --> 00:41:10,083
and the church was defended
by Hughes, actually,

564
00:41:10,166 --> 00:41:13,458
gathering the forces and
putting them behind this wall.

565
00:41:13,542 --> 00:41:15,709
They threatened to burn
the church down

566
00:41:15,792 --> 00:41:18,333
and he was kind of a firebrand -
he threatened them

567
00:41:18,417 --> 00:41:22,041
and it didn't happen.

568
00:41:22,125 --> 00:41:24,375
But they did defend
the church from this wall.

569
00:41:24,458 --> 00:41:26,500
So that gave me a kind -
I don't know.

570
00:41:26,583 --> 00:41:28,959
It gave me - when I was a kid, I
heard these stories and I saw -

571
00:41:29,041 --> 00:41:31,375
now these streets are paved,
but it was all cobblestone.

572
00:41:31,458 --> 00:41:34,917
It's like "Gangs of New York"
going way back.

573
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,959
And I wondered - everything
had a story to tell...

574
00:41:38,041 --> 00:41:41,542
the history of the church, not
necessarily what you may feel

575
00:41:41,625 --> 00:41:43,166
about it in terms of
your own personal beliefs,

576
00:41:43,250 --> 00:41:47,250
but the history of this church,
you know, this place was just

577
00:41:47,333 --> 00:41:51,375
breathing stories
and lives long forgotten.

578
00:41:51,458 --> 00:41:57,083
[classical music]

579
00:41:57,166 --> 00:41:59,542
The Irish literally fought
to earn their place here

580
00:41:59,625 --> 00:42:02,542
in the city, so they
became very protective

581
00:42:02,625 --> 00:42:04,959
of the community and they
were very protective

582
00:42:05,041 --> 00:42:07,291
of this church as well...

583
00:42:07,375 --> 00:42:09,959
and then you started
to see a large wave

584
00:42:10,041 --> 00:42:12,750
of Italian immigrants
flooding the city.

585
00:42:12,834 --> 00:42:14,000
♪

586
00:42:14,083 --> 00:42:17,250
But now the Italians come in
and they weren't accepted.

587
00:42:17,333 --> 00:42:20,250
♪

588
00:42:20,333 --> 00:42:22,375
There was no doubt
that there were cultural,

589
00:42:22,458 --> 00:42:25,959
language differences
back then, but, you know,

590
00:42:26,041 --> 00:42:29,250
there was also this wonderful
synthesis that took place.

591
00:42:29,333 --> 00:42:32,667
I think that if you just look
at our church records

592
00:42:32,750 --> 00:42:34,875
and you see the amount
of marriages

593
00:42:34,959 --> 00:42:38,333
that occurred between
Irish and Italians,

594
00:42:38,417 --> 00:42:40,792
I think it tells you
a great deal about

595
00:42:40,875 --> 00:42:42,417
what it is to be
an American.

596
00:42:42,500 --> 00:42:45,792
[classical music]

597
00:42:45,875 --> 00:42:48,792
♪

598
00:42:48,875 --> 00:43:03,417
[religious music,
singing in Mandarin]

599
00:43:03,500 --> 00:43:06,583
Everything is
in constant change,

600
00:43:06,667 --> 00:43:10,166
but this church, this basilica

601
00:43:10,250 --> 00:43:14,417
has been and remains
a constant, an anchor.

602
00:43:14,500 --> 00:43:16,500
[man singing in Mandarin]

603
00:43:16,583 --> 00:43:18,625
And it was built by people
who flocked here

604
00:43:18,709 --> 00:43:21,208
to start a new life
in this city,

605
00:43:21,291 --> 00:43:24,667
a city where people still come
from all over the world,

606
00:43:24,750 --> 00:43:27,291
a city that for me has
always been synonymous

607
00:43:27,375 --> 00:43:30,709
with America itself,

608
00:43:30,792 --> 00:43:32,750
America at its very best.

609
00:43:32,834 --> 00:43:55,583
[religious music,
singing in Spanish]

610
00:43:55,667 --> 00:43:57,625
The Henry Erben Organ is one

611
00:43:57,709 --> 00:44:00,250
of America's great
musical treasures.

612
00:44:00,333 --> 00:44:04,542
When it's played by a master
and it hits these grand chords,

613
00:44:04,625 --> 00:44:07,792
I mean, you can feel it
vibrating deep within you.

614
00:44:07,875 --> 00:44:10,500
And it means something special
that my grandparents

615
00:44:10,583 --> 00:44:12,750
and my parents, who also lived
in this neighborhood,

616
00:44:12,834 --> 00:44:14,500
heard and felt
the same sounds

617
00:44:14,583 --> 00:44:18,291
bellowing out of
this massive instrument.

618
00:44:18,375 --> 00:44:20,458
It really connects you
with the history that has

619
00:44:20,542 --> 00:44:23,959
taken place
within these walls

620
00:44:24,041 --> 00:44:25,375
and, of course,
the history of this city.

621
00:44:25,458 --> 00:44:27,291
[organ music]

622
00:44:27,375 --> 00:44:31,750
♪

623
00:44:31,834 --> 00:44:34,792
It's not just
an historical artifact

624
00:44:34,875 --> 00:44:38,792
because these pipes
rang out and resounded

625
00:44:38,875 --> 00:44:40,500
through this entire neighborhood
over the years -

626
00:44:40,583 --> 00:44:44,750
cheering troops
returning from war,

627
00:44:44,834 --> 00:44:47,750
comforting people
in the wake of September 11th

628
00:44:47,834 --> 00:44:50,875
and the sinking of the Titanic,

629
00:44:50,959 --> 00:44:55,750
mourning the loss of presidents
from Grant to Kennedy.

630
00:44:55,834 --> 00:44:57,834
And it still plays today,

631
00:44:57,917 --> 00:45:00,166
it's a living, breathing
instrument that's been played

632
00:45:00,250 --> 00:45:04,417
in joy and in sorrow,
in celebration and in mourning.

633
00:45:04,500 --> 00:45:06,417
[organ music]

634
00:45:06,500 --> 00:45:12,083
♪

635
00:45:14,208 --> 00:45:16,166
Ah.

636
00:45:17,625 --> 00:45:21,041
Yeah, the light's just coming in
through the windows right now.

637
00:45:21,125 --> 00:45:22,583
Wow.

638
00:45:24,542 --> 00:45:27,792
This is the organ,
the Henry Erben organ.

639
00:45:27,875 --> 00:45:30,333
It's about the size
of a three bedroom apartment.

640
00:45:30,417 --> 00:45:31,834
Ha ha!

641
00:45:31,917 --> 00:45:33,542
Yes. Yes.
It's fantastic.

642
00:45:33,625 --> 00:45:36,417
[three organ notes]

643
00:45:36,500 --> 00:45:39,542
This would be my little
Italian sound.

644
00:45:39,625 --> 00:45:42,959
[organ music]

645
00:45:43,041 --> 00:45:47,333
♪

646
00:45:47,417 --> 00:45:48,542
[organ malfunction]
Ah.

647
00:45:48,625 --> 00:45:50,500
Oops. Ha ha ha!

648
00:45:50,583 --> 00:45:52,375
[speaks Italian]

649
00:45:52,458 --> 00:45:57,208
Yeah, there it goes.
Here we go.

650
00:45:57,291 --> 00:46:00,125
This organ's a hundred
and fifty years old,

651
00:46:00,208 --> 00:46:03,333
and after 150 years,
I turn it on,

652
00:46:03,417 --> 00:46:05,500
I don't know if it's going
to play the way

653
00:46:05,583 --> 00:46:07,625
it played yesterday or not.

654
00:46:07,709 --> 00:46:09,583
[random organ notes]

655
00:46:09,667 --> 00:46:13,834
The Erben has thousands
of parts.

656
00:46:13,917 --> 00:46:15,542
A lot of them are
made out of wood,

657
00:46:15,625 --> 00:46:18,000
and the wood is dried
and cracked

658
00:46:18,083 --> 00:46:22,500
because of, you know, changes
of environment over the years.

659
00:46:22,583 --> 00:46:26,500
The...
OK, is the coupler on?

660
00:46:26,583 --> 00:46:29,208
Oh, they're all
on the floor there,

661
00:46:29,291 --> 00:46:30,500
Right, they broke off.

662
00:46:30,583 --> 00:46:32,542
The holes are worn so badly

663
00:46:32,625 --> 00:46:35,500
that they're just
breaking in half.

664
00:46:35,583 --> 00:46:37,667
[creaking mechanics]

665
00:46:37,750 --> 00:46:41,667
With the leather being
150 years old in a lot of cases,

666
00:46:41,750 --> 00:46:46,083
the pollution it's been
subjected to over the time,

667
00:46:46,166 --> 00:46:50,166
every pipe is just
full of dust,

668
00:46:50,250 --> 00:46:54,834
it's a miracle it plays when I
turn it on and it's just

669
00:46:54,917 --> 00:46:58,500
sort of a matter of time until
it stops playing altogether.

670
00:46:58,583 --> 00:47:00,834
♪

671
00:47:00,917 --> 00:47:03,750
In light of its rarity,
certainly, at this point

672
00:47:03,834 --> 00:47:06,792
and in light
of its historic value,

673
00:47:06,875 --> 00:47:09,458
it's time for a comprehensive
restoration of the instrument.

674
00:47:09,542 --> 00:47:12,375
[organ music]

675
00:47:12,458 --> 00:47:17,000
♪

676
00:47:17,083 --> 00:47:19,667
So I'm thrilled that everything
has worked out the way it has.

677
00:47:19,750 --> 00:47:22,041
The choir here...

678
00:47:22,125 --> 00:47:25,041
The restaging of this oratorio
will be a benefit

679
00:47:25,125 --> 00:47:29,917
for the restoration
of this aging instrument.

680
00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:30,625
3, 4.

681
00:47:30,709 --> 00:47:36,000
[classical music]

682
00:47:36,083 --> 00:47:39,000
Music and music making
have their origins

683
00:47:39,083 --> 00:47:42,959
in houses of worship
like this glorious cathedral.

684
00:47:43,041 --> 00:47:45,083
It's a beloved sanctuary for me

685
00:47:45,166 --> 00:47:48,000
and the millions of others who
have walked through its doors

686
00:47:48,083 --> 00:47:50,792
since it was built
almost 200 years ago.

687
00:47:50,875 --> 00:47:54,250
And this performance,
like this cathedral

688
00:47:54,333 --> 00:47:56,750
and the people working
to maintain its relevance

689
00:47:56,834 --> 00:47:59,667
and traditions,
reinforces the importance

690
00:47:59,750 --> 00:48:03,500
of nurturing
the cross-cultural bridges

691
00:48:03,583 --> 00:48:05,542
that make this city
so vibrant and dynamic.

692
00:48:05,625 --> 00:48:08,959
[classical music]

693
00:48:09,041 --> 00:48:20,792
♪

694
00:48:20,875 --> 00:48:23,458
[classical music]

695
00:48:23,542 --> 00:48:32,875
♪

696
00:48:32,959 --> 00:48:35,959
Lorenzo Da Ponte's
whirlwind of a life

697
00:48:36,041 --> 00:48:38,667
landed him right here
in New York City.

698
00:48:38,750 --> 00:48:41,750
His financial woes
followed him

699
00:48:41,834 --> 00:48:44,542
as he fled bankruptcy
three more times

700
00:48:44,625 --> 00:48:49,500
before finding stability by
giving Italian language lessons.

701
00:48:49,583 --> 00:48:51,583
♪

702
00:48:51,667 --> 00:48:55,542
Sharing his Italian culture
must have been an addiction

703
00:48:55,625 --> 00:48:58,500
for him because it consumed
the rest of his life.

704
00:48:58,583 --> 00:49:00,667
♪

705
00:49:00,750 --> 00:49:03,750
He found his way into the elite
social scene of New York City,

706
00:49:03,834 --> 00:49:06,208
no doubt thanks to his charm

707
00:49:06,291 --> 00:49:07,709
and stories of his life
of adventures.

708
00:49:07,792 --> 00:49:11,125
[classical music]

709
00:49:11,208 --> 00:49:13,583
♪

710
00:49:13,667 --> 00:49:16,667
[translation]

711
00:49:24,834 --> 00:49:27,125
[translation]

712
00:49:42,959 --> 00:49:45,750
Da Ponte was
a tireless promoter

713
00:49:45,834 --> 00:49:47,792
of Italian culture,

714
00:49:47,875 --> 00:49:50,333
and that included
Italian opera.

715
00:49:50,417 --> 00:49:53,792
Those efforts eventually
led to Da Ponte

716
00:49:53,875 --> 00:49:56,375
staging the 1826 oratorio.

717
00:49:56,458 --> 00:49:58,458
♪

718
00:49:58,542 --> 00:50:01,458
[translation]

719
00:50:19,458 --> 00:50:22,333
He lived in the neighborhood
and arranged

720
00:50:22,417 --> 00:50:24,750
to put on a performance
of music.

721
00:50:24,834 --> 00:50:26,792
Those very notes resounded
in these very halls

722
00:50:26,875 --> 00:50:30,000
back in 1826

723
00:50:30,083 --> 00:50:31,709
and brought us here tonight.

724
00:50:31,792 --> 00:50:36,500
[classical music]

725
00:50:36,583 --> 00:50:38,333
[translation]

726
00:50:56,834 --> 00:51:01,208
[vocal warm ups]

727
00:51:03,917 --> 00:51:16,041
[vocal warm ups]

728
00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:24,208
[translation]

729
00:51:44,834 --> 00:51:47,250
[sustained applause]

730
00:52:01,583 --> 00:52:03,500
[applause abates]

731
00:52:08,542 --> 00:52:09,875
[classical music]

732
00:52:09,959 --> 00:52:31,667
♪

733
00:52:31,750 --> 00:53:13,583
[singing in Italian]

734
00:53:13,667 --> 00:53:16,166
[classical music]

735
00:53:16,250 --> 00:53:28,750
♪

736
00:53:28,834 --> 00:53:31,166
[classical music]

737
00:53:31,250 --> 00:53:37,291
♪

738
00:53:37,375 --> 00:53:39,959
In 1826, people were
transformed

739
00:53:40,041 --> 00:53:41,834
by the experience
of this music,

740
00:53:41,917 --> 00:53:46,375
so it set the stage
for this cultural awakening

741
00:53:46,458 --> 00:53:51,166
that accompanied the commercial
might of New York City.

742
00:53:51,250 --> 00:53:53,667
"Music is beginning
to do wonders

743
00:53:53,750 --> 00:53:56,667
among the inhabitants
of our gay city."

744
00:53:56,750 --> 00:53:59,125
Those words were written
after the concert

745
00:53:59,208 --> 00:54:01,834
for an editorial in
the newspaper.

746
00:54:01,917 --> 00:54:04,291
It was a real cultural awakening
in the city of New York,

747
00:54:04,375 --> 00:54:07,083
and it extended beyond music
to all the arts.

748
00:54:07,166 --> 00:54:15,333
[classical music, singing in
Italian]

749
00:54:15,417 --> 00:54:17,458
I'd like to think this will be

750
00:54:17,542 --> 00:54:21,583
an historic stepping stone
to another creative moment,

751
00:54:21,667 --> 00:54:25,041
some new venture artistically
and spiritually.

752
00:54:25,125 --> 00:54:39,750
[classical music, singing in
Italian]

753
00:54:39,834 --> 00:54:41,792
[translation]

754
00:54:52,709 --> 00:55:02,041
[classical music, singing in
Italian]

755
00:55:02,125 --> 00:55:06,375
♪

756
00:55:06,458 --> 00:55:09,417
Music gives a soul
to the universe

757
00:55:09,500 --> 00:55:11,166
and life to everything.

758
00:55:11,250 --> 00:55:13,375
[applause]

759
00:55:20,166 --> 00:55:23,500
[classical music]

760
00:55:23,583 --> 00:55:24,583
♪