Italy has been one of the countries hit hardest and earliest by the coronavirus. The Italians have met this pandemic with grace, humor, love and music. The scenes from the now-empty streets of Rome, Milan, Venice and Florence are crazy and shocking, but the Italians have been incredibly resilient and they had that reality-check early. After a month of social distancing, mandatory quarantines and a hospital system which came close to utterly collapsing, Italy has finally seen a dramatic reduction in corona-related deaths over the past week.
To celebrate the Italian people and the people of the world on Easter Sunday, Andrea Bocelli somehow (??) organized this absolutely incredible livesteamed event. He stood inside and then in front of the Duomo in Milan with a microphone (and a remote organist) and performed a simple concert. The songs included: “Sancta Maria,” “Domine Deus,” “Panis Angelicu,” “Ave Maria” and “Amazing Grace” for the finale. This video is incredible. This performance is so moving and soaring and hopeful.
*wipes away tears* The added images of historic locations in other cities (Paris, London, New York), now empty, are so…incredible.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I did not recognize him 😩 i haven’t “seen” him since his hype days and it was shock to me…
The concert was beautiful and made me teary
This was haunting and so moving. I am loving the innovative way these artists are finding to feed people’s souls right now, with music and comedy. On Saturday, for the 4th night of Passover, an incredible group of actors/singers/writers Zoom-streamed “Saturday Night Seder”, a fundraiser for the CDC.
Here’s some of the performers: Pamela Adlon, Jason Alexander, Mayim Bialik, Rachel Brosnahan, Andy Cohen, Darren Criss, Fran Drescher, Cynthia Erivo, Harvey Fierstein, Josh Groban, Judith Light, Alan Menken, Idina Menzel, Debra Messing.
I dare anyone to watch the segment with Ben Platt/Judith Light and not tear up.
https://www.saturdaynightseder.com
omg Judith Light is so wonderful. She was great in Transparent
This was fabulous, thanks so much for sharing the link to the Saturday Night Seder.
❤️
I just looked this up and watched a bit of it–wow, so wonderful! Did not know that history of the writers of one of my favorite songs, Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
This concert was beautiful. His version of Amazing Grace brought me to tears.
We watched this while eating lunch with my family. It was wonderful. Seeing the empty Duomo and iconic cities I have visited in the past surrounded by people(now totally empty), while he sang amazing grace, made me cry. I’m so glad he shared his talent with us yesterday. Several friends and family texted with each other about it – we were all thinking of each other. It felt like a collective experience even as we were separated.
Wow, bravo. A beautiful voice carried up to the heavens singing praises to the Lord. How hauntingly beautiful to see the empty cities to Amazing Grace. And the empty church as he say, what a stark contrast.
truly a talent but really too many voices on his bad temper. knows agirl that worked with him and he was amazingly abusive .she was shocked
plus he is very stingy
We were the first in Europe to face the covid and we made a lot of mistakes, the worst: we underestimated the virus. Sadly we had to see other countries doing the same…which is heartbreaking.
I love he went there and sang…I have met too much people who don’t understand why art is important, why we need it.
This is the answer. This is why we must support art to stay alive, to remind us our humanity, and to bring us light no matter what.
Yes! Art is a necessity!
I cried the entire 30 minutes!
The greatness of his voice echoing over stark and lonely looking cities and landmarks is both physically,emotionally and spiritually something I’ll not forget.
Very beautiful performance.
At the end they showed images from Italy, Paris and London, they should have included Madrid as well.
Although his voice is nowhere near as spectacular as it was during his heyday, he’s still amazing. I attended a sold out concert of his about 20 years ago and what struck me then was the sheer variety of people who attended. Huge age range, young people in torn jeans to senior citizens. Such was his appeal. Few performers in history have had that kind of impact. He wanted to sing opera so desperately and as good as he was, it was in the Italian ballads that he truly excelled. It was other-worldly. Didn’t even need to understand the words to be moved.
He looks really gaunt and kind of sickly, which unnerved me. Also I got so depressed looking at all the emptiness at the end of yesterday’s performance. The empty church and all those beautiful cities. I wondered if they’d ever be filled again.
Andrea Bocelli did something really wonderful and used his resources and connections to create something so special for people. I appreciate this hugely.
Artists, like everyone else, are reckoning with a mind boggling shift in what their lives will look like and are still managing to share a bit of content. Those with platforms like the leading international opera houses and those with a video camera and an upload link to YouTube are all sharing and I find it both inspiring and daunting.
(I come at this as an opera singer just beginning a career hinting at international promise, so my view is a little skewed. Also I realize how wanky that is to say about my own career, but it’s true/what I want so I may as well speak it into existence during this quarantine!)
I’m so glad that a singer with such an immense following was able to use his platform to share for good and to touch people. It’s all we want, as singers, and being separated from audiences is so hard. The voice is arresting in person, and harnessing that power now is difficult. Bravo to this man and his team for making it happen this weekend!
Best wishes for your career.
I am going to miss live concerts so much. I go to an average of 2-4 per month, sometimes more, and have been to almost a thousand concerts of various sizes in the last 20 years. I have (had) tickets to 15 concerts this summer already and plans to travel for certain ones. It’s a huge part of my life. Some of my favorite artists have been doing live streams or re-playing old shows for free which is great but…it’s just not the same, obviously. I am so heartbroken for all artists and fans because we form these supportive communities both online and in person based on our love of music and it’s so important to the artists and to us as fans. That’s all gone now for the foreseeable future.
This is absolutely beautiful and made me cry. Thank you to everyone who put this together.