Crowd mourns Pavarotti in his hometown by Delia Cruceru

The last great voice of Italian opera, as some might say, died early Thursday in his hometown Modena at the age of 71. Crowds and people around the world are mourning him, along with dignitaries from opera, politics and culture. He moved the world with his voice as he brought the opera music to the masses being well known for collaborating with opera singers but as well with pop celebrities as Elton John, Spice Girls, Bono and others. This summer was very hard for him, as his condition kept on worsens and after that deciding to come back to Modena where he died of pancreatic cancer. His wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, four daughter and his sisters stood aside his bed to be with him while he was taking his last breath. "Pavarotti was the last great Italian voice able to move the world," said Bruno Cagli, president of the Santa Cecilia National Academy in Rome. At Pavarotti's funeral service Andrea Bocelli will sing the hymn "Panis angelicus" but other celebrities have offered to give the maestro a musical send-off. U2 frontman Bono said Pavarotti was "a great volcano of a man who sang fire but spilled over with a love of life in all its complexity." His friend Placido Domingo said he "always admired the God-given glory of his voice â€" that unmistakable special timbre from the bottom up to the very top of the tenor range."

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070906/ap_on_re_eu/pavarotti;_ylt=AvHthl14UfCjQsKIBv61f9Ss0NUE

by Delia Cruceru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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