Sing it from the rooftops, self-isolation isn’t all bad

ITALY may be a nation in lockdown, but it hasn’t stopped its streets and palazzos echoing with joyful song.

In a moving demonstration of the human spirit, thousands of quarantined people, determined to enjoy one of life’s simple pleasures, have been appearing on their balconies armed with guitars, accordions, recorders, harps, and in the case of one Roman housewife, a couple of saucepan lids.

With the country paralysed by the coronavirus pandemic and suffering 21,157 cases and 1,441 deaths to date, the singalongs have proved a much needed morale injection. Sometimes it’s the national anthem, others have chosen football songs. In Milan, opera singer Laura Baldassari leaned out of her apartment window and, to the delight of those below, belted out an aria.

In Naples, people have been singing a song called Abbracciame, which means Hug Me, perhaps not the wisest exhortation in the circumstances. Meanwhile, singers in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged, have also been lifting the spirits of locked-down groups with songs including Wuhan Jiayou – or Stay Strong Wuhan.

And to show their support for the people of Italy, a British harp and vocal duo, sisters Adel, 23, and 19year-old Karina Wilson, will play and sing on their balcony overlooking the sea in Folkestone today at 3pm and at the same time every day for the foreseeable future.

STRIKING A CHORD: A woman plays the harp in front of drying laundry on the balcony of her home in Turin

IN GOOD VOICE: Opera singer Laura Baldassari lifts spirits in Milan, as others grab recorders in Rome and a guitar in Milan

MAMMA MIA: A woman uses pot lids to play cymbals as she joins in the music during the lockdown in Rome and, below, a guitarist serenades locals in Turin