Audio slideshow: classical editor Neil Fisher

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Video: watch Pavarotti perform with the Three Tenors

Celebrities from the world of both classical and pop music are expected to attend the funeral of Luciano Pavarotti tomorrow in his home town of Modena.

Nicoletta Mantovani, the tenor’s second wife, and his three daughters by his first wife, Adua Veroni — Lorenza, 44, Cristina, 42 and Giuliana, 40 — overcame past differences to comfort Pavarotti as he lay dying on Wednesday at his villa.

It is not clear whether Ms Veroni will attend the funeral. “The bitterness of her divorce from Pavarotti was such that they hardly spoke after the settlement,” one local journalist said.

Last night mourners filed past the tenor’s coffin at the 12th-century Romanesque cathedral in Modena, and the queues of people who paid their last respects were expected to continue until shortly before the funeral tomorrow afternoon. Giant screens will relay the service to those unable to get into the cathedral.

Antonio Frassoldati, Pavarotti’s doctor, said that the tenor had remained calm and “conscious of what was happening” to the end. He was taken to hospital in Modena, near Bologna, on August 8 suffering from a high fever and respiratory problems that were linked to the pancreatic cancer for which he was operated on in New York just over a year ago.

Pavarotti married Ms Veroni, his teenage sweetheart, in 1961, and she became not only his wife of 35 years but also his business manager until the tenor, then 60, was photographed by paparazzi in 1996 in the sea off Barbados with Ms Mantovani, his 26-year-old secretary. The Pavarottis announced their separation in March 1996 “with mutual respect”.

Pavarotti, meanwhile, said that he saw no reason to hide his happiness with Ms Mantovani, who first met him while helping to run the equestrian centre at his estate and later organised his “Pavarotti and Friends” concerts.

In 2002, after six years of separation, Pavarotti and Ms Veroni were divorced, and in January the following year Ms Mantovani had twins, only one of which — Alice — survived. In December 2003 they were married at a wedding attended by 600 guests including Bono, Sting, Andrea Bocelli and José Carreras.

This week the Italian Government announced that Pavarotti was the first recipient of a new prize for his work “promoting Italian culture in his country and abroad”. Locals in Modena said that they had lost “a great man who never forgot us despite his fame”. Emilio Sabattini, President of Modena Province, said: “The world has lost an exceptional musical talent, and Modena has lost one of its dearest sons.”

La Scala opera house in Milan, where Pavarotti first performed, fell silent last night. It said that it would organise a singing competition dedicated to the tenor “to pay homage to the career of a symbol of Italian music in the world”.

Franco Zeffirelli, the opera and film director, said: “There were tenors — and then there was Pavarotti.”

Chorus of praise

–– Thank you for spreading your great arms, for singing with us and making us that gift again of your spontaneous and radiant smile
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli

–– A great volcano of a man who sang fire but spilled over with a love of life
Bono, of U2

–– He could thrill you with his power and move you with his tenderness
Lesley Garrett

–– It is thanks to Pavarotti that the culture of opera spread to new generations
Franco Zeffirelli

–– His tenor was so distinguished that I could immediately recognise it whenever I heard his songs
Conductor Seiji Ozawa

–– [He] carried across the globe the most authentic artistic image of our country, stirring the emotions and releasing passions
Romano Prodi, Italian Prime Minister

–– His work stretched from Afghanistan to Liberia and beyond. By marshalling talented friends to help raise funds he generated millions for humanitarian aid
Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary-General

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