700 children come together to sing ‘Nessun dorma’ and bring hope during lockdown

6 April 2020, 12:28 | Updated: 6 April 2020, 12:47

Hundreds of young European singers have joined together during the coronavirus lockdown, to sing Puccini’s great aria of hope...

In a poignant message of hope and love amid the coronavirus outbreak, 700 children from Italy and Europe have come together to form a massed virtual choir.

The wonderful initiative was launched by children’s charity, Europa InCanto, which helps to connect children aged 4-13 with opera and musical theatre.

Led by quarantined maestro Germano Neri, the 700 children sing Puccini’s great tenor aria ‘Nessun dorma’, while holding up messages showing their names, locations and words of hope to friends and loved ones.

Watch as their faces all pop up on screen in the video below.

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Coronavirus, 'Nessun Dorma' canto di speranza: un coro di 700 bambini esegue l'aria di Puccini

Puccini’s aria, from his 1924 opera Turandot, takes on a whole new meaning as 700 young voices sing in an act of musical solidarity, accompanied by musicians in the virtual EICO-Europa InCanto Orchestra.

To participate in the project, each of the children recorded themselves singing along to a backing track using the Scuola InCanto app, before the footage was compiled for the end result.

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The beautiful video follows a number of virtual performances from self-isolating musicians, as people continue to stay at home to curb the spread of COVID-19.