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Recently, I flew over a crowd

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of thousands of people in Brazil

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playing music by George Frideric Handel.

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I also drove along the streets of Amsterdam,

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again playing music by this same composer.

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Let's take a look.

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(Music: George Frideric Handel, "Allegro."
Performed by Daria van den Bercken.)

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(Video) Daria van den Bercken: I
live there on the third floor.

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(In Dutch) I live there on the corner.

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I actually live there, around the corner.

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and you'd be really welcome.

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Man: (In Dutch) Does that sound like fun?
Child: (In Dutch) Yes!

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[(In Dutch) "Handel house concert"]

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(Applause)

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Daria van den Bercken: All this was a real

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magical experience for hundreds of reasons.

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Now you may ask, why have I done these things?

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They're not really typical for a musician's

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day-to-day life.

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Well, I did it because I fell in love with the music

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and I wanted to share it with as many people

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as possible.

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It started a couple of years ago.

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I was sitting at home on the couch with the flu

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and browsing the Internet a little,

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when I found out that Handel had written works

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for the keyboard.

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Well, I was surprised. I did not know this.

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So I downloaded the sheet music and started playing.

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And what happened next was

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that I entered this state of pure,

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unprejudiced amazement.

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It was an experience

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of being totally in awe of the music,

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and I had not felt that in a long time.

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It might be easier to relate to this when you hear it.

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The first piece that I played through

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started like this.

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(Music)

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Well this sounds very melancholic, doesn't it?

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And I turned the page and what came next

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was this.

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(Music)

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Well, this sounds very energetic, doesn't it?

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So within a couple of minutes,

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and the piece isn't even finished yet,

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I experienced two very contrasting characters:

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beautiful melancholy and sheer energy.

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And I consider these two elements to be

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vital human expressions.

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And the purity of the music makes you hear it

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very effectively.

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I've given a lot of children's concerts

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for children of seven and eight years old,

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and whatever I play, whether it's Bach, Beethoven,

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even Stockhausen,

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or some jazzy music,

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they are open to hear it,

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really willing to listen,

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and they are comfortable doing so.

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And when classes come in

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with children who are just a few years older,

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11, 12, I felt that I sometimes already had trouble

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in reaching them like that.

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The complexity of the music does become an issue,

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and actually the opinions of others —

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parents, friends, media — they start to count.

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But the young ones, they don't question

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their own opinion.

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They are in this constant state of wonder,

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and I do firmly believe that we can keep listening

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like these seven-year-old children,

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even when growing up.

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And that is why I have played

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not only in the concert hall

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but also on the street, online, in the air:

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to feel that state of wonder,

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to truly listen,

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and to listen without prejudice.

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And I would like to invite you

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to do so now.

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(Music: George Frideric Handel, "Chaconne in G Major."
Performed by Daria van den Bercken.)

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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(Applause)