so, you can see how the audience absolutely loved francesco meli — reportedly been abducted singing an aria there from il trovatore by verdi. by masked men, following more mass protests against president lukanshenko. the knight talking the european union has strongly about his eternal love for his fiancee, leonora. condemned the authorities in belarus for what it called arbitary and unexplained arrests and detentions before and after the falsified presidential election in august. two dozen wildfires are blazing across california, one believed to have been started by a firework at a party. the fires have been made worse and considered to be the leading tenor here by a heatwave across the state. in italy, francesco meli, scientists have recorded and, you canjust tell from the highest—ever temperature in los angeles county the reaction of the audience here that they loved it. bravo! of 49.1; celsius. hundreds of rohingya refugees have landed in indonesia after spending six months at sea, in a journey from bangladesh. locals in aceh helped the boat come ashore and the refugees have been moved to a shelter where they will be tested for coronavirus.

the hamptons, near new york city, is one of the most affluent regions of the united states, best known for its large houses and long sandy beaches. but there is another side to it: the thousands of workers who rely on the busy summer season to make a living. their income has been hit hard by the pandemic, leading to a rise in the need forfood banks. and so rock legend jon bonjovi stepped in to help, as samira hussain reports. it is distribution day at this food bank. i'm good, man, how you? and the last performer good. is the extraordinary baritone, there are no volunteers here. leo nucci, singing an aria just a handful of workers for my favourite opera — and staff, including jon bon rigoletto by verdi. jovi. straight on! straight on, jack, you got it, buddy! the global pandemic means his otherjob as international rock star is somewhat on hold, so he can devote time and sweat to this project. if you come here, i will show you the idea. so we will roll a pallet around, usually by weight those are around a0 pounds

a case and we usually go by the heaviest things on the bottoms. in less than an hour and a half, several hundred kilos of food are loaded onto trucks and taken to seven different food pa ntries across eastern long island, a process that has happened every week since march. we would be remiss if we just wrote a cheque. we feel that being hands—on makes us feel good while we are doing it. and i'm a control freak. laughing that's it! this kind of work is not new forjon and his wife, dorothea. together, they run thejbj soul foundation, doing philanthropic work like building homes and running community kitchens. thank you so very, very much! and it is notjust the people running the food bank that is surprising, it is the location as well. this area is known as a playground for the affluent, one of the wealthiest zip codes in america. the hamptons tell the story of two very different americas. one in which the wealthy can enjoy second homes while taking in beautiful beaches then the artistic director cecelia gasida joins in the finale — a personal

triumph for her. the arena di verona has not been silenced. they sing. in the summertime. but the other is made up of restaurant workers and day labourers, who earn a living by serving the rich. usually, the summer is when the hamptons‘ economy booms. the arrival of the rich seasonal residents means lots of work, but not this year. local poverty has risen sharply and demand at the springs food pantry is up 300%. there are more people that live here year—round that are at or below the poverty line than there are the guys that own the big estate. the coronavirus pandemic has ripped open the deep economic divides in america for all to see. yeah, we did good. we did good. even right here in the hamptons. samir hussein, bbc news, east hampton, new york. now on bbc news, a behind—the—scenes look the title of the rousing at some of the biggest names popular neapolitan song which the opera stars sing in italian opera as they gather at the end of the concert for a glittering night under is ‘o sole mio — the stars at the verona arena. music plays.

meaning "oh, my sunshine." well, with economic downturns and warnings of new waves italy, home of opera — of covid—19, let us indeed hope that we can all look forward to a sunnier future. they sing. and the night the music came alive again at the famous roman arena in verona. after months of silence, a dazzling gala concert with a big cast of italian opera stars. they sing. i missed to go and to put my hello there. although for many of us monday was a cloudy day, we did have some rain as well across north—western areas, we also had a few brighter moments feet on the stage — to feel and that was of those captured towards the end of the day across parts of devon by alan 0. now, on the charts for tuesday, we've got low pressure to the north of the uk, the power of the orchestra. high pressure to the south and this front working eastwards.

now, this area is called a warm sector. i'm going behind the scenes and that's going to be moving to find out what the future right across the uk. holds for live opera. bringing warmer air, yes, but increasing amounts of humidity. all that's going to do is thicken the cloud up and bring some outbreaks of drizzle, some mist and fog patches forming around our coasts and hills. so it will turn increasingly murky over the next few hours. some dampness around, as i say. a few spots of drizzle, music is something that goes no great amounts butjust some directly to the soul. dampness in the air it's not important, you know, across the west first thing. the quality now, we start starting off with the day to think about the quality on tuesday, we start off later, maybe in a few months, with that extensive cloud. but now, let's do music. the best of the sunshine, actually, northern and eastern scotland, north—east england starting out sunny as well. elsewhere, there could be a few breaks coming along in the cloud, but it's always going to be a struggle to break and will audiences return? the cloud against the west, so staying quite grey. i'm from verona, and despite that, temperatures the arena, it is our place to meet and enjoy music. still into the 20s. so it was very important for me to be here tonight — rain moves into the north—west the first occasion of reopening of scotland, becoming persistent it. he sniffles. towards the end of the day, sorry. and if we do see any breaks, lengthy clear

they sing. breaks some sunshine, it will feel warm, it will fill humid. that rain will continue to push southwards as we go through tuesday night. the cold front extends towards england and wales was up taking a drink with it. the front itself is moving towards high pressure for an opera fan such so the front is weakening all the time. as it takes its cloud, the rain turns increasingly turns patchy as it works towards the south and east. as myself, it's a real treat temperatures on wednesday, lower, and about 5 degrees lower across the north and east. you will notice that change. but across the south—east, to visit the roman amphitheatre we're stilljust about hanging in verona in northern italy — onto that warm air. temperature still around which since 1913, has hosted 22 or so in london. a summer opera festival. it will turn a bit fresher, but it's with some trepidation that i come here, because like many, i'm though, on thursday. we say fresher, it will be wondering how live opera fresher, but of course in the sunshine, it still september, it is performances are going to still warm in that sun. after a sunny start cloud on thursday will tend to spread across the sky particularly across northern and western areas. a few showers to brush into survive the coronavirus crisis. the far north—west of scotland. our temperatures for many of us between around 15 and 19 degrees celsius. the arena's general manager and then we finish the week with low pressure moving and bringing and artistic director, wet and windy weather to the north—west. again the front weakens as he pushes through the south—east. that's your weather.

cecilia tells me that social distancing rules mean, for now, opera's are being staged in concert form — with no lavish sets and costumes and without intervals. maria kolesnikova was, until today, pretty much cecilia turned to management after a long career a very warm welcome as a celebrated soprano. to bbc news. she's performed at the arena i'm mike embley. and appreciates its marvellous acoustics. our top stories: a leading opposition figure in belarus reportedly abducted by masked men amid more mass protests against president lukashenko.

two dozen wildfires blaze across california — as the heatwave sees los angeles county hit its highest ever temperature. typhoon haishen has lashed south korea's east coast, causing landslides and bringing down power lines. hundreds of rohingya refugees land in indonesia after six months at sea. the opening concert is dedicated to italy's health workers. about 25 of the country's and is pepper, the opera stars are singing culturally—aware robot, arias from italian opera. the answer to the care home staff shortage? i joined them at last—minute rehearsals in a nearby venue. but how did opera singers keep themselves in shape to prepare themselves for a live performance after months of lockdown? well, opera singers are a little bit like athletes — their artform is physically demanding, and they have

to constantly train and use their voice to maintain their fitness. the world renowned tenor francesco meli and his soprano wife, serena giambrone, could at least practice together during lockdown at home in genoa. the audience is... cos you see... i don't know, many, many people are very different, like the theatre and everybody is here for you, for the performers, for the... ..to take the emotion, and the whole arena is like this. lockdown has been tough on singers. many artists worldwide like soprano donata d'annunzui lombardi are facing very uncertain futures. i had many cancellations, because i had five productions that were cancelled. this is the destiny for every artist for every

singer in this period. but anyway, i think that a real artist is always free to build another world, another... opportunity? yes, opportunity. # ave maria...#. bass baritone alex kept up his singing via video links during italy's strict quarantine period. alex lost a friend to covid—i9 and believes he suffered himself. i started with symptoms, fever, tiredness, and i lost the taste and the smell. so i'm quite sure that i had it, and i was alone. i would've been scared. you are from bergamot, which is one of the cities that was worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic. how did you feel when all of that was going on? very sad, of course, because i have a lot of friends

there and relatives, of course. and they told me the only two sounds they could hear, it was of the ambulance and the bells of the church for dead people. so, how did you manage to maintain your normal routine of practising your vocal exercises and so on? of course, when i started to feel better, i thought, what was the future of my life and of myjob, of course and my art? it was soon possible, i started to practice again alone to move my voice and to run to the light because i wanted to exit from this.

lombardy was the part of italy at the pandemic‘s epicentre in which 35,000 italians died. milan is the regional capital, and mezzo soprano annalisa stroppa lives just outside the city. she sings. yeah, the first month for me was totally in silence. because i feel that the voice didn't want to sing. i was not in a mood. are you worried about the future for opera and future performances in other parts of the world? it's a very worrying period. of course, everybody thinks of how it will be in the future, how we can come back to work. the music is my life. it's not only a job for me.

i miss a lot the relationship with the public, i miss to go and to put my feet on the stage — to feel the power of the sounds of the orchestra. mounting operas is extremely expensive, and operating with audiences at greatly reduced capacity is just not financially viable. how can theatres survive? the arena normally seats 13,500, but with current guidelines, that's had to drop right down to 3,000. outside the arena, i see a group of artists demanding more government funding for the arts.

but could nature wreck months of planning? there is heavy rain in the run—up the concert. even the 14th century italian poet dante seems to be wondering if the weather

will spoil it. relief all around, the sun appears for the stars of italian opera. and as final preparations get under way, i catch up with one of the conductors, ricardo frizza, and ask him what it's like to conduct an orchestra with new social distancing rules. it's difficult, it's not the same as before. because, of course, the more distance between the musicians, there's been more complications for the ensemble, for them playing together.

does the music suffer in quality because of social distancing, in your opinion? yes. it lacks a bit of precision. but i think it's better to lack precision than stop the music. music is something that goes directly to the soul, it's not important, you know, the quality now. we will start to get into the quality maybe later, in a few months, but now, let's do music. 0ne singer limbers up his voice at the arena and attracts a few curious passersby. he sings. at last, the countdown begins.

well, there's an air of nervous expectancy. it's just over an hour before tonight's gala concert begins, and the tension is almost palpable. musicians from the orchestra slowly taking up their position behind me, and also members of the audience are taking their place. this is the first time that the arena di verona is staging a live performance since lockdown ended. there are even some members of the paparazzi assembled, because there are various dignitaries in the audience, including the president of the italian senate. it's also a return to the arena for locals and visitors. why have you decided to come to the opera tonight? to support the arts, but also because a lot of people every year come here to verona to see the opera. i still remember when i came to my office, because i still had the right

to go to the office, most people couldn't. and i live just a few streets down there, and i came to my office which is over here, and the entire square was a total desert. it was so heartbreaking. so unbelievably heartbreaking, and it's so great to see it alive again. i think it's very important for the people staying in verona. and are you nervous about sitting in the audience with many people? no. no, no. absolutely not. this isn'tjust an important event for the arena di verona. it's also very significant for the whole of the italian nation, because it represents a reawakening of the country's culture. there is one big difference, though, this time, hand sanitiser, and i have to have my temperature checked... ..before i can go in. and unless you're performing, masks are compulsory.

gong rings. and they like to start them young at the arena di verona. six—year—old lucas conducts the national anthem. and then we are in for a treat, as one opera star after another performs solo on stage. she sings. so, annalisa stroppa, and the audience absolutely love her.

she's a very attractive, engaging performer — singing aria there, rosina in the very popular barber of seville by rossini, and rosina determined to use all her wiles to capture the heart of her dashing lover. he sings. and now we have donata lombardi — who is singing, again, a very famous aria from tosca by puccini. she sings. 00:21:42,886 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 he sings.