In this week's edition of "North By Southwest" Nicolas Jackson visits the Juan March Foundation in Madrid to attend the performance by UK ensemble La Sereníssima as part of the Foundation's cycle of concerts on 500 years of British music. La Sereníssima is considered one of the world's leading exponents of the music of Antonio Vivaldi and his Italian contemporaries and is a winner of, and 4 times nominated for, a prestigious Gramophone Award. La Sereníssima's founder and director, Adrian Chandler, and soprano Mhairi Lawson discuss the extent of the Italian influence on British music in the 18th Century. We hear about the dominance of Händel and the political resonance of music at that time; about Vivaldi's "Manchester" sonatas and the eccentricities of Francesco María Veracini; about Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli's day job and the unique Canzoni da Batello which fascinated British audiences of the period but are little-known nowadays (14/01/13).
