On Easter Sunday this year, Italy was still on lockdown from the coronavirus pandemic. The Mayor of Milan wanted to have a special live streaming concert to uplift the people of Italy. He asked famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli to perform. Bocelli accepted the invitation.
It aired live on Easter Sunday from the Duomo di Milan and hit 30 million views in 24 hours. It was well-received all around the world. He sang several Italian religious songs including “Ave Maria,” then he ended it with “Amazing Grace” in English.
His voice echoed across the empty cathedral in a hauntingly beautiful way. There are also aerial shots of the empty streets of COVID-stricken Milan. The city has been one of the hardest hit in Italy. Italy has taken a hard hit in the COVID pandemic with over 35,000 deaths and over 244,000 cases to date.
The concert was filmed with an on-site skeleton crew of only 15 people. Only Bocelli and his accompanist on the piano went unmasked. The square outside of the church was cleared for the shoot.
Bocelli said in an introductory voice-over with English subtitles
“On the day in which we celebrate the trust in a life that triumphs, I’m honored and happy to answer ‘Sì’ to the invitation of the city and the Duomo of Milan. The generous, courageous, proactive Milan and the whole of Italy will be again, and very soon, a winning model engine of a renaissance that we all hope for.”
Bocelli is a 61-year-old tenor opera singer born in Italy. He was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma at age 5, and he went completely blind at age 12 after a soccer accident.
At age 6, he picked up the piano and showed an early interest in music. He actually studied law because his parents wanted him to, but he never gave up on music. He got his big break in 1992 when a demo tape he recorded landed in the hands of Luciano Pavarotti.
He has recorded several albums and collaborated with many other recording artists in his time.
Featured image: YouTube
