Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli has performed a live Easter concert in the empty Duomo cathedral in Milan to promote a message of hope for Italy and the world as it confronts the coronavirus pandemic.
The Music for Hope concert, broadcast worldwide on Youtube on Easter Sunday (local time), featured only Bocelli, one of the world's most famous opera singers, and the cathedral's organist Emanuele Vianelli.
Bocelli sang four hymns, before finishing with a moving rendition of Amazing Grace as a montage showed the empty streets of Paris, London and New York.
"On the day in which we celebrate the trust in a life that triumphs, I'm honoured and happy to answer 'Sì' to the invitation of the City and the Duomo of Milan," Bocelli wrote in a message on Youtube.
"I believe in the strength of praying together; I believe in the Christian Easter, a universal symbol of rebirth that everyone — whether they are believers or not — truly needs right now.
"Thanks to music, streamed live, bringing together millions of clasped hands everywhere in the world, we will hug this wounded Earth's pulsing heart, this wonderful international forge that is reason for Italian pride."
Milan is the capital of the Italian region of Lombardy, the country's worst-affected area, with more than 10,000 COVID-19 deaths recorded.
World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter: "Bravo, Andrea Bocelli for today's powerful performance and show of hope and solidarity for Italians fighting the COVID-19 pandemic."
The Andrea Bocelli foundation has started a fundraiser to help hospitals purchase protective equipment for their staff.
Four hours after it streamed, at 7:30am AEST, the concert had already been viewed more than 15 million times.
