At first, the idea of a live performance from an empty church came from the mayor of Milan with the intention of uplifting his home country, the one hardest hit in some of the critical weeks of the coronavirus pandemic. Many watched it as a substitute for church. 3 million saw it live on you tube as it happened. In the days since it has had more than 32 million views. It was intended as a prayer for a country hard hit by the virus.
Bocelli's manager said “Andrea has been really impressed by the amount of comments that we got all over the world, but most important from the people (who are) not Catholic, so this event got way beyond just the religious. And the one that really hit me was, ‘This performance was the one that we will remember in 20 years (from) during these days.’ So it feels like a sort of living history.”
Watch this moving performance from an empty cathedral on Easter Sunday as a means to inspire hope amid a global pandemic.