Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli performed a 'Music for Hope' concert at a deserted Duomo di Milano on Easter Sunday in a bid to bring the country together during the coronavirus pandemic.

The event, which was streamed by 3.4 million people around the world, took place both inside and outside the Milan cathedral.

Bocelli also performed Amazing Grace as a spine-tingling finale to the 25-minute performance.

Speaking to The Guardian beforehand, he said: “During moments like this, as we are forced to stay at home, we have to grasp the opportunity to do things that often we would like to do, but which we don’t have time for.

“Let’s begin: speak to your children, and try with all your strength to create a family harmony that often is not there because dialogue is missing.

“Read, listen to music, try to keep the body and mind very active and, last but not least, do not be afraid of a virus that will pass, in the same way that you wouldn’t be afraid when you get behind the wheel of your car, knowing that throughout the year there are so many road victims.”

Italy may have begun to turn a corner in the fight against COVID-19 as on Sunday it recorded the fewest number of deaths for more than three weeks.