Hanging on to hope

Italians are reacting to fear in the most natural way—with optimism, the quality for which the world admires them the most

- LAURA SILVIA BATTAGLIA/MILAN

Gianfrancesco and Angelo Federico have been attending the Vibo Valentia Academy of music in southern Italy for years. The two brothers—one a cellist and the other a violinist—would never have believed that they would use the balcony of their terraced house in the town of Crotone as a stage. But they did so on a silent evening this month. The brothers joined the first national flash mob organised by Italians after being forced into quarantine to contain the coronavirus infection by playing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. “Because it is a prayer, and because it is full of hope. We need to hope,” they said, after their performance became viral on social media. From the balconies of their homes in Rome, Naples and Milan, hundreds of Italians sang or played with their instruments popular songs, from “Azzurro” by Adriano Celentano to the Italian national anthem.

Italians are reacting to fear in the most natural way—with optimism, the quality for which the world admires them the most. And, from a tragedy that has already caused more than 2,000 deaths, especially in northern Italy, new opportunities arise. Elena Inversetti works in the communication sector and lives in the southern outskirts of Milan. She also participated in these musical flash mobs and noticed that something has changed. “I have lived here for five years, but I have never met my neighbours,” says Elena. “The neighbour is a stranger. If you meet him on the stairs, he takes the elevator. We only say ‘good morning, good evening’. Nothing more. But now that we have all seen each other from the balconies and we have sung together, something has changed. We exchanged phone numbers to send us the flash mob videos and suddenly we know who lives near us. Unexpected solidarity is emerging. How strange are these days.”