Pavarotti hometown mourns singer

Thursday, 6 September 2007

Hundreds of people have gathered in Modena's main square to pay their respects to the celebrated tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

His body is lying in state in the cathedral in Modena, in northern Italy, until his funeral on Saturday.

The singer died at his home, aged 71, on Thursday after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006.

A stream of mourners applauded as the nine pall bearers carried Pavarotti's body up the steps of the cathedral.

His wife and other family members grieved nearby.

Outpouring of grief

Local authorities are preparing for an outpouring of grief during the funeral on Saturday afternoon.

There are still no details from the family as to what kind of funeral they want, but Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi has expressed his wish to attend and correspondents say it is starting to take the shape of a state funeral.

Across the city, the flags are flying at half mast and in the windows are signs which read "Adieu maestro".

Giant television screens are being set up near the cathedral and satellites from all around the world have gathered in the square.

"Thanks to Luciano Pavarotti, the name of Modena has gone around the world as the name of a city much bigger than it actually is," mayor Giorgio Pighi told the Associated Press news agency.

Tributes pour in

Fellow tenors Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras have led tributes to Pavarotti.

"I always admired the God-given glory of his voice," said Domingo, who performed with Pavarotti in Three Tenors concerts for more than 10 years.

He remembered "that unmistakable special timbre from the bottom up to the very top of the tenor range".

"I also loved his wonderful sense of humour," he said.

"On several occasions of our Three Tenors concerts, we had trouble remembering we were giving a concert before a paying audience, because we had so much fun ourselves."

Jose Carreras, the third singer in the trio, called Pavarotti "one of the most important tenors of all time".

Milan's La Scala theatre - where Pavarotti appeared 140 times - held a minute's silence for the star on Thursday.