Andrea Bocelli's lone Easter Sunday concert scores YouTube record

Italian singer Andrea Bocelli performs outside the Duomo cathedral on Easter in Milan, Italy, April 12, 2020. /AP

Andrea Bocelli's solo Easter concert in a deserted Milan cathedral has scored a record as the most watched classical music concert on YouTube.

The 25-minute livestreamed "Music for Hope" concert by the Italian tenor reached more than 2.8 million concurrent peak viewers in the largest simultaneous audience for a classical live stream in YouTube history, YouTube said on Wednesday.

The video received more than 28 million views from across the globe in its first 24 hours, and as of Wednesday morning it had topped 35 million views.

Andrea Bocelli performs a selection of religious songs, opera arias and a version of "Amazing Grace" outside the Duomo Cathedral on Easter in Milan, Italy, April 12, 2020. /AFP

Bocelli, who performed a selection of religious songs, opera arias and a version of "Amazing Grace," said he wanted the concert to bring together people isolated during the coronavirus lockdown.

The concert, in which Bocelli sang in an empty cathedral with only an organist, was preceded by drone footage of deserted streets and piazzas in Milan and outside the city's Duomo which dates from the 14th century.

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Source(s): Reuters