You need some beauty to face the coming week
and Rai Italia will give you some Italian Beauty.
As usual, let's start it out with some art
and take a plunge into the long-standing past in Pompeii.
In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted
and left the city and its inhabitants buried under tephra and ash.
Centuries later, the ruins saw the light thanks to excavations,
and became a UNESCO World Heritage site.
He lives in Montalcino and is known as "The Vine Whisperer."
He's a dreamer,
a winemaker who loves music and Brunello.
From his vineyard rows,
Mozart notes echo through the Val d'Orcia hills.
Before becoming the spokesperson for Made in Italy,
some entrepreneurs saw their dreams through with tenacity.
They now tell Italian Beauty all about it.
Share in the vision of forward-thinking entrepreneurs
who became synonym with Italian excellence and are now envied worldwide.
Let's get it started with Pompeii:
The fascinating story of a Roman colony
that had its daily life frozen in time after a catastrophe.
A POIGNANT BEAUTY
BY PAOLO BONETTI
We're about to embark on a journey through a poignant beauty.
It's a precious World Heritage Site.
Our guide is Massimo Osanna,
General Director of the Pompeii Superintendent's Office.
Greetings from Pompeii to our compatriots in Italy and abroad.
This is a unique place and we're very proud of it.
We're proud because this place shares universal values.
On the one hand, here we find beauty
in every corner, house and road.
On the other hand, we can reflect on how frail human creation is,
not only of the ruins, but our own existence.
I arrived in Pompeii in 1978, when I was 14 or 15 years old.
My father had instilled in me a passion for archaeology.
He brought me to see Pompeii and Paestum one summer.
I was mesmerized by the urban dimensions of Pompeii.
We went into houses that seemed to have just been abandoned,
as if residents had left only a few years earlier
and it went through a slow degradation.
This aspect impressed me so that I never forgot about Pompeii.
I must say my focus on the domestic environment,
on communicating and trying to set something up,
which we're trying to accomplish with a major project,
some environments to restore this domestic space,
the stories that these objects have to tell...
This effort dates back to my first visit.
"Tacitus, I write to disclose the death of my uncle,
"to pass on to posterity.
"I thank you.
"I am sure he will be remembered in immortal glory."
LETTER FROM PLINY THE YOUNGER TO TACITUS
"A cloud emerged in the sky and, from a distance,
"we could not identify which mountain it came from.
"We later learned it was from Vesuvius.
"The shape of the cloud was likened to that of a pine tree,
"and it thrust into the sky by a "trunk" after the explosion.
"The flames were high and streaked, the flashes were enormous,
"and their light was emphasized by the dark of night."
The Pompeii Project financed by the European Union
made it possible for this magnetic city to be restored and reopened.
Mattia Buondonno,
Official Guide of the Pompeii Superintendent's Office
brings you more particular details.
We're in Pompeii,
at the famous Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompeianorum.
This was an ordinary town that became extraordinary.
It became extraordinary after the volcano eruption in 79 AD
It was August 24, one in the afternoon,
according to Pliny the Younger's letters.
This is where they lived their daily lives.
This is where you can hear the rustling of voices.
The facades of houses were covered in graffiti.
The graffiti indicates
the daily life of this city: Pompeii.
We're at a house known as "cryptoporticus."
Across from it,
there's an area that acted as the family's altar.
We can recognize a famous deity:
Mercury, the messenger of the Gods.
We also see the God of Commerce.
The last homeowner was most likely a merchant.
At this house, they have also found that beautiful pair of casts
of two women in each other's arms.
The last moments of this family's life.
This house kept things private.
This is a room where guests
could take baths in private.
They could remove themselves from public baths.
They could be different.
This was a symbol of status.
It set rich merchants apart.
Apart from the refined private baths,
there's also a cryptoporticus and a well-lit basement
with refined and relevant decoration.
The surrounding decoration communicates the culture
of this family with Iliad scenes.
"On Sunday, we went to Pompeii.
"Many misfortunes have happened in the world.
"However, few have left so many gems for posterity.
"I look at the sea and the sun setting.
"An admirable place worthy of serene and profound thoughts."
We're at the House of the Golden Cupids.
It's one of the most emblematic houses of Pompeii.
It came to light in 1903
and was wonderfully restored only two years later.
What we see here is a portico known as peristyle.
It was built in the 1st century BC
This building combines two ancient constructions.
One from the 3rd century BC
and the other one from the 2nd century BC.
This was the main space in the house.
They entertained their illustrious guests here.
It was here that they took their "cerebral strolls,"
a cultural walk.
It imitated the Greek lifestyle, the stoa, the agora,
the way the Greeks lived and spoke.
It was majestic, important, and cultural.
The domus of the house was different.
There was a public area and a private area.
The public area was the atrium,
where clients would come in every morning.
They had a famous rite: the morning greeting.
Clients would come in to honor the Dominus.
This restored garden resembles what it looked like 2,000 years ago.
We're not talking about landscaping, but architecture.
They had this beautiful pool with water sprinklers.
The flowing water created fertility, life.
It was important to have guests see all this.
Because in the Roman world, the world of Pompeii,
families were ostentatious.
People must tell their friends they were treated well in my Domus.
"Back to the heavenly ray after the ancient oblivion,
"the extinct Pompeii, as buried skeleton,
"whose greed or pity is now outdoors."
At the National Archaeological Museum in Naples,
where most of the findings were restored,
as Museum Director Paolo Giulierini explains.
We're at the famous library at the Archaeological Museum in Naples.
This institute has the extraordinary track record
of fascinating everyone about the glories of the Bourbon cassata
and the artistic excellence of a city known worldwide.
Naples has been a glorious European capital
and this museum could be seen as
the archaeological epicenter of the world.
Everything starts here,
with the splendorous excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii.
The collections that can be seen here in this institute
represent a global point of reference
for scholars and tourists who come from the four corners of the world.
Working inside such a prestigious institute,
for a new director, is an important challenge,
I dare say an epochal challenge.
Above all, it's about making the city aware of the greatness
of a museum and a center within an European capital
that has established a dialogue
with cities like Madrid, Paris and Berlin.
Secondly, we would like to develop this museum
in a way to make it visible not only within Italy,
but all over the world as well.
We will implement an aggressive strategy
to take gems from our catalogues
and our permanent collections in international tours.
They will act as witnesses to our immense riches
that will be enjoyed in the Americas and in the East,
in new cultural markets.
Everyone will understand the strength and firepower
of an institute that is one of a kind both in Europe and the world.
We are trying to open up Pompeii to everyone.
GENERAL DIRECTOR, POMPEII SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE
One of the many projects that have been implemented recently
is "Pompeii for everyone."
It's an inclusive project for people with special needs,
who will finally be able to cross Pompeii safely.
"POMPEII FOR EVERYONE," LAUNCHED DECEMBER 2, 2016
The route is 1,5 km long and overcomes architectural obstacles.
It will allow everyone to see Pompeii safely.
"Pompeii for everyone" is also about recovering the beauty of Pompeii.
We will do that using new itineraries,
which will allow people to see the extraordinary legacy of Pompeii,
not only the objects, but everything that happened.
Yes, the dramatic volcano eruption, but also the daily life before it.
These roads with so many tourists used to be traveled by people
who came here for a thousand purposes:
for commerce, to eat at a restaurant, meet each other,
tell jokes about the politics of the time.
As the records found within these houses tell us,
they even talked about gladiator spectacles.
These lives are disappearing and we must restore them to our visitors.
We have been doing it with a series of displays to complement visits.
For example, we have an exhibit at the amphitheater.
It showcases a pyramid by architect Francesco Venezia.
It houses the casts of the victims.
It's unique to Pompeii: You can see the bodies of the victims
of the eruption from 79 AD
forever immortalized in their last moments on Earth.
The casts inside the pyramid tell their stories.
It's an incredible story of destruction,
and it shows us how fragile human life is.
It's the biography of these people
of whom we know so little, but also know so well
because of the objects they carried as they tried to flee.
Some escaped with only the keys to their house.
They thought they could later return.
They thought they could avoid this catastrophe.
They thought they'd still have everything they left at home.
You can only see this in Pompeii.
That's why Pompeii is a World Heritage Site.
It's not only a snapshot of life in a town in 79 AD,
but a snapshot of the death of a town, a tragedy
that took the life of those poor victims with the volcano eruption in 79 AD.
The adventures of a man who decided to change lives
by playing Mozart to his vineyard and making unique wine.
This is the story of the Paradise of Frassina and its creator.
MOZART'S VINEYARD
Hills, woods, castles
WINEMAKER
… farms, vineyards, olive trees, color-changing ground...
Once ploughed,
it changes the color consistency of the landscape.
This part of Val d'Orcia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
There's a reason for that: when you look around,
the same landscape from 500-1,000 years ago
is seen by visitors and residents of this area.
The landscape is gorgeous.
WINE TOURISM GUIDE
It goes hand in hand with the arts, because when we see
works of art from the Renaissance, it's the same landscape.
I came from the north, from Milan.
Like many outsiders,
when I arrived here I was shocked.
It was so green!
We're in Montalcino, the land of Brunello,
one of the most important, beautiful, and joyful wines in the world.
This is where, 20 years ago,
I wanted to bring music to the vineyard.
It's all here, at the Paradise of Frassina.
Let there be music.
You take the road, you get to the vineyard,
PHYSICAL THERAPIST
and you soon hear the music.
You reach the vineyard,
it's beautiful, even more so on a summer day,
and there is this music.
It has an effect and it's truly beautiful
because you can see Montalcino, there's a gorgeous view.
It's truly a beautiful place.
Foreigners arrive and they're stupefied.
They step out of their car and take a deep breath.
They remain still, as if surrounded by a bubble.
It's a musical bubble.
It's the first strong sign that they're welcome here.
I come from Milan. My father was a lawyer.
I became a lawyer, like my father and his father.
After spending 30 years in an honorable career,
I decided to retire and take a sabbatical year.
I wanted to do something for myself.
The very first time I visited the Paradise of Frassina,
I took a road that leads to this paradise.
I had a CD in the car, turned up the volume
and it was Mozart.
Mozart's Requiem.
I stepped out of the vehicle and started walking.
I was surrounded by this amphitheater.
It created some sort of an echo.
Back in the car, I said, "I'll make music here!"
It was... How do you say? It was my start.
Then I started to experiment,
and it was the first time music was played to the vines.
And it was Brunello vineyards.
I was shy in my experiments at first.
I was by myself, and I installed some speakers
at different angles of the new Brunello vineyards here.
It was important to verify what would happen
with and without music.
In this farm, you either share in our dream or you walk away.
I arrived here in December 2005.
Carlo came to welcome me, and I stepped out of the car
and heard this music echoing everywhere.
AGRONOMIST
He said, "I need someone who believes in me,
"believes in what I do and what I seek to discover."
I've always loved music. I played a couple of instruments.
I had heard that, in the East, in China, Japan, and Korea,
even in India, people were researching
the effects of sounds on plants, flowers and grapevines.
If they have demonstrated that sounds do good to other plants,
why not grapevines?
I was very skeptical,
but I wanted to see it from a perspective
of working at a farm that seemed so promising.
I wanted to see whether, from a scientific standpoint,
it could be proven.
We have had competitors in the world of wine
who say, "That clown plays music in the vineyard,
"but it's a marketing strategy just to sell more Brunello."
We all thought it was a marketing strategy.
TRACTOR DRIVER
At first, I thought people were coming here for the atmosphere,
and it was just a tourist trap.
People don't do these things just for the sales.
I believe he's thinking outside the box.
It's straight from the heart.
People come here and ask,
"Why don't you play some Bocelli? Play some Neapolitan music!"
Then they'd walk away, laughing.
I started out with liturgical music, Baroque and instrumental music,
Gregorian chants, discrete music that didn't go beyond
a given threshold of hertz and decibels,
otherwise, it would have a negative effect on the field.
I studied and read that, if you play some music
at 5,000 or 10,000 hertz and 150 decibels,
you'll kill them. Not only people, but plants, too.
The word got around that I was doing this experiment.
The news reached a big researcher in Florence,
Professor Stefano Mancuso,
who created the magnificent Department of Plant Neurology.
He studies the sensibility and intelligence of plants.
PROJECT "SOUND AND VINEYARD"
These questions have been answered since 2006, after I got here.
FRASSINA IS A PIONEER IN STUDYING THE EFFECTS OF SOUND ON PLANTS
Several universities in Florence and Pisa started to work closely with us
regarding the effects of music and sound on grapevines.
Professor Stefano Mancuso said,
"Carlo, let's sign a research contract."
They would send their team of researchers
to collect samples of grapevines subjected to the test.
They'd make an assessment on what happens with and without music.
After a couple of years, we had implemented it everywhere.
I went through the vineyard one morning,
and the side treated with music had more leaves and plants,
while the other side had grapevines that were struggling.
We know sound is related to stress.
We know that low-frequency music, like the one we play in the vineyard,
is positive
because it doesn't disturb the useful insects in the grapevines,
and it doesn't destroy the cellular structure of plants.
It actually enhances protein synthesis within plants.
It makes plants resistant to different types of stress, even to pathogens.
We have seen how parasites, insects and predators
were bothered and driven away by musical waves.
To me, this is huge evidence
that you don't need to use any damn chemicals on vineyards.
We realized that leaves thicken in microns,
invisible to the naked eye.
But it's enough to make it harder
for insects and parasites to thrive.
As a result of this research, we have seen
that music helps grapevines grow,
yielding grapes that are rich in polyphenols.
These are substances rich in antioxidants,
which are important and crucial for our organism.
It turns out the grapes are healthier, and our wine is healthier.
We have a total of 60 speakers,
playing both in the Mozart vineyard and the experimental vineyard.
Music plays 24 hours a day, every single day.
Here we only listen to Mozart. I listen to any kind of music.
I'm a musician and play with a band.
I'm at the right place.
Why only Mozart? No Haydn, no Handel.
Why not the greatest Vivaldi and his Four Seasons?
Because Mozart knows best.
The music is discrete.
It's positive music.
Mozart only composed music in major keys.
In other words, he adored optimism.
It has been used to treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's,
autism in children, mental disorders, stress...
That's why I chose it.
Arriving at that place is like being in another dimension.
We see and smell things, but it's about the music.
It's about all senses.
Let's say I'm the first one in the world
to experiment with this project: Music in vineyards.
It's one of the 100 most sustainable projects in the world,
according to a UN committee in 2011.
It's been mentioned in the Bright Green Book.
This experiment has been replicated by many farmers.
This is a particular farm.
You can't do standard work here as an agronomist or enologist.
You must give it a personal touch to the end purpose.
Let's consider this project not only for the grapevines,
but for all fruit growing farms.
Think about the thousands of hectares of fruit farms
that could benefit from music and sounds
without all the damn chemicals.
That's my dream.
Today we'll start telling tales about Italian businesses
and the dreams entrepreneurs have made true.
They started with nothing,
like Ernesto Gismondi, in San Remo.
THE INVISIBLE LIGHT BY DONATELLA SCIPIONI
Milan in the 1950s.
After the post-war reconstruction, we turned to the arts.
In a city that pioneered industrial development,
aesthetics meets functionality
and drives the mass production of designer items.
It was an electrifying period, when an engineer from San Remo
reinvented the lighting industry.
Ernesto Gismondi used to design missiles as an aerospace engineer.
Down a path of war weapons,
he had an entrepreneurial idea that changed his destiny.
I didn't have any money. I wasn't rich.
I wanted to go into manufacturing to see if I could invent something.
The only thing that occurred to me at the time
was lighting structures.
I left the missiles aside and my first lighting fixture did very well.
The invention succeeded at my first attempt.
At first, Italy had just emerged from the post-war.
PRESIDENT OF THE ARTEMIDE GROUP
Right after the war,
Italians were looking for everything.
I know they looked for missiles
because we needed to have them available.
The only thing I succeeded in inventing was the light,
lighting fixtures.
Since the late 1960s, step by step,
he created his idea: Artemide.
It won him several Golden Compass Awards,
elevating a new lighting concept in technical and design terms.
The name of a Greek deity was selected by instinct,
or is there a deeper meaning to it?
There's a deeper meaning. He's the God of Moonlight.
Taking this Greek idea,
the Greek concept of light, seemed like a nice idea.
THE ARTEMIDE LAMP, 1993
They started production and sold units especially to architects,
joining forces with them.
Their enthusiasm with the new idea created a life-long legacy.
I met Ernesto and we've spent so much time together.
We've interacted outside work too...
ARCHITECT
because we were in the same wavelength not only in creating light,
but also in our way of thinking.
Ernesto is a very pragmatic person.
He has great sensitivity to understand
both the past and the present.
When we're creating, we work on the design,
we work with the composition and materials.
But I don't always know what's truly contemporary
and what doesn't match
the times we're living in today.
Last century was about electronics. This century is about photonics.
Light is energy.
It's a fantastic energy, because it influences our lives.
ARCHITECT AT ARTEMIDE GROUP
It helps plants grow. It's aware of the energy of the planet.
It's an energy that contains information and data.
It converses with other forms of intelligence.
Designing lamps is a very central kind of work
in the designer segment.
Designing lamps is, at the same time, designing technological products,
because lighting technology is constantly developing.
It has evolved so much recently, especially due to LED
and the new digital lamps.
But it's also about understanding current trends.
You must have sensibility to understand current trends.
Light represents knowledge.
It's an extraordinary energy.
It opens up new avenues for projects.
These new avenues meet in an extraordinary way,
with old and traditional knowledge about the project.
Project foundations include humanism, manufacturing,
and expressing presence and beauty through light.
Therefore, tradition and innovation
are the foundations for a lighting project
tried and tested in labs.
Regulatory limits of disturbance are verified
and there are immunity tests,
when devices are checked for possible interference.
The room is kept closed for protection.
ARCHITECT IN CHARGE, ARTEMIDE GROUP
We use chambers like this one.
It isn't a regular screening room,
but all technical refinements are present
so that we can guarantee a perfect seal.
In this case, we're screening wavelengths
and also radiation points of electromagnetic nature.
Here, we're doing tests regarding
the seals of movable parts
in order to meet the resistance demands for the device.
What raw materials do you use? Have they changed with time?
Have you added something new?
Yes, because if you don't change, you're left behind.
If there's a new plastic component in the market
that can be injected the same way,
but is more resistant and functional,
you must start using it.
You must always be looking for new material
that allows you to make products that are better than the competition
and at a lower price.
We don't go around buying finished products, saying,
"Make this and you can give it to us, so we can sell it."
We are extremely focused on
precisely following how
a product is developed throughout the process.
If you don't manufacture your own products,
after all the effort you have put into researching,
innovating and finding new materials,
that's up to you.
But you must own what you make.
This light can be seen because of knowledge.
This is knowledge from our century.
This is knowledge from ten centuries ago.
This glass was blown in Venice.
It's from our glass-making shop and it has two sections:
the crystal glass section, and the frosted glass section.
This refined quality manufacturing
supports and enhances the source of light
that was tested with complex photometric research.
Regarding performance aspects,
we use a goniophotometer.
Here at Artemis we have two of them.
We have a main one that we call "The Mirror."
The other one we call "Cell Rotation."
We mainly use them to create
the finishing details that characterize the final product,
which we had officially determined during production.
Concept, tests, development, and certification.
This philosophy brings science back to nature.
With these projects, I always think about something crucial.
These projects should resemble nature.
It's something nature couldn't make, so we made it.
This is a good summary of what we can truly do.
We can bring poetry to technology.
Innovation, poetry, and a dialogue with nature.
Progress moves forward, reaching other sectors.
It happens today, as it has happened in the past.
We started manufacturing furniture made of plastic:
polyester with fiberglass, ABS and the likes.
It's been an excellent invention,
because Magistretti, our best designer,
did a great job
and we carried on with operations.
Then, the war in the Middle East started.
Oil prices shot up.
We could no longer make plastic furniture...
I TRY TO TOUCH THE LIGHT AND IT SLIPS AWAY
... since the raw material is derived from oil.
We had to halt production.
We halted the production after building a nice plant,
getting all the machinery, and everything ready,
but nothing to work on.
We went around, knocking on people's doors.
We went to Fiat and made the bumper for their 128 model.
Another part we made was a tractor carter.
This has been our adventure in a new sector.
From lighting fixtures to automobiles.
This almost compulsory past repeats itself now as an opportunity.
Mercedes-Benz selected this leading company in Italy
to join forces and innovate,
starting out with the Meluna project.
This project has great technological intelligence
and great manufacturing intelligence.
This shell you see here has a very complex mold.
It uses state-of-the-art optical material.
It has two internal molds
that create a "mixing chamber."
That is, a chamber that mixes light.
It's over 90% energy efficient,
and it allows for light emission control.
There's no light distortion,
but it has the ability to light the space.
Their collaboration will carry on,
and hopefully keep combining design and technology,
as they did with the famous Tolomeo lamp.
The Tolomeo lamp has become a legend.
Can it be adapted to the technological progress in the sector?
Yes, and we have been seeing it year after year.
Every year we have a new Tolomeo model.
It's been updated and advanced
both in technology and design.
That's the beauty of Tolomeo:
It's not only about adapting itself;
it's about reinventing itself.
Paying attention to trends and new styles,
they have earned titles, awards, and recognition.
All that remains is to persevere.
We have earned many important awards,
including being featured at the Museum of Design.
Our main concern now is to understand where to go next
to be the first in our class.
For us, beyond sales goals,
it's important to dictate market trends and say:
"We believe things are going in this direction."
Light perception will always be important.
It educates emotions, it educates society,
it illuminates architecture,
it illuminates moments of collective life
to follow the rhythm of our life.
Light is essential to everything.
Especially in works of art, which are very sensitive objects
meant to be admired.
Everything should be observed
under the best light
because a moment of admiration yields pleasure and contemplation.
Is it possible to reproduce the chromatic effects
and shades of the sunset?
Yes, certainly.
Personally, I'm very passionate about
a trend known as "biomimicry."
It means to imitate nature at its best.
That is, to learn from nature, not only in its natural form,
as far as growth and natural manifestations,
but as far as lighting as well.
It means following the spectrum of natural light
and reproduce it in a research that has been conducted for many years.
It yielded very positive results.
Light, dark, and shadows. That's what nature can teach us.
We lose ourselves in the horizon, where the sky meets the ocean.
Sailing is my main passion,
from a very early age into adulthood.
The beauty of sailboats
is that you can join regattas.
I was interested in it because of the confrontation.
You believe you're great and you can race because you're fast.
However, you don't know if it's true until you compare yourself to others.
Upon a comparison, you can verify whether you're that good,
or you freeze in fear,
or snap with a gust of wind or while facing a storm.
2006 FINALIST, SAILOR OF THE YEAR
That's what this sport can do for you.
You arrive at the docks and wait to see who's in second place.
Does sailing help you forget or visualize?
Visualize, because you have your personal vision.
It's strictly personal,
as opposed to the bigger picture of a nation or others.
In constant growth, illuminated by the value of doing.
Cutting-edge fantasy and performance.
The good fortune of anticipating the collective taste.
A team sport pointing to the future, fluctuating among humanism,
technology and creativity.
What is indeed changing the lighting segment
is that we no longer have only a few fixtures in a room
with a lamp pointing to a bed.
There are so many sources of light,
so many stars shining a light on an environment.
My biggest desire, which is actually a commitment,
is that we use research, have a vision,
and also leverage the beauty of our products
to spread quality light and life,
even where there is only dark.
That way, we'll shine a light on many spaces
in the lives of people who have less light and information,
so that they may find a new hope.
I have found every implausible way
because no one will stop and give up.
This is what you must do if you want to win.
This is what we've done to develop ourselves.
It's easy to manage things
with a sweet touch,
instead of a tug-of-war.
In our operations, we can mix in light
and do it all with electronic devices.
They allow you to implement the "mise-en-scène,"
everything you want to accomplish.
Those who do it first are pioneers,
who are featured in museums where people say:
"Look at this beautiful product!"
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