Bitter enemies in love, the wives of Luciano Pavarotti will unite in grief at his funeral in his home town today.

Adua Veroni, who was married to the tenor for 35 years, and Nicoletta Mantovani, his widow and former secretary, will be among hundreds of mourners at the cathedral in Modena.

Although the three daughters of the first marriage — Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana — gathered at his bedside alongside Nicoletta as he lay dying, Adua did not join them. It emerged yesterday that she had visited her former husband “a few weeks ago”.

“A great man is dead,” she said. “But that is how life is. I’m so very sorry for my daughters.”

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Life and times of Luciano Pavarotti

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Thousands of mourners, many in tears, filed past Pavarotti’s open coffin. Giuliana said that the family was “sustained by the people’s warmth” which would “help us to cope with the loss after this is all finished”.

The queues began forming at 6am and continued until midnight, with a further chance to pass the coffin this morning. The line moved slowly and quietly, funnelled through crash barriers. “Addio Maestro” said posters put up in the historic centre by Modena council.

“The world makes its last bow before Luciano” ran the headline in Il Resto del Carlino, the local paper, adding, “Addio, goodbye, lebewohl, adieu, adios, adeus.”

In the dimly lit interior, memorial cards with the dates October 12, 1935 to September 6, 2007 were handed out. Lying in the open coffin in a black dinner jacket, he looked smaller than the familiar Pavarotti of girth, a result perhaps of the pancreatic cancer for which he was operated in New York in July 2006, and of which he died, complicated by a kidney infection.

But there was no mistaking the face, the beard, and the prominent black eyebrows. A rosary was wrapped around his folded hands, which also held the trademark white handkerchief he used to mop his brow.

“He was world-famous, but he brought the world to Modena,” said Gianni Secchi, a retired pharmacist, who was filing past for the second time. “He sang in all the world’s great opera houses — but the ‘Pavarotti and Friends’ charity concerts were held here.” Could they continue, perhaps with a tenor such as Andrea Bocelli? “No, it wouldn’t be the same. There was only one Pavarotti.” People also gathered outside his villa at Santa Maria Mugnano. Mirella Freni, the soprano from Modena who was a close friend, visited Pavarotti towards the end: “He said, ‘Enough, I can’t carry on’.”

At today’s service Bocelli will sing Panis Angelicus from the Catholic sung eucharist, which Pavarotti fondly recalled singing with his father at the cathedral when young. The Italian Air Force will also stage a flypast. Other expected guests include Bono of U2 and a delegation from Juventus football team, which Pavarotti fervently supported. Despite his close links with Diana, Princess of Wales there are no plans for a member of the Royal Family to attend.

Romano Prodi, the Italian Prime Minister, who will attend, had offered the family a state funeral in Rome. They declined, saying the tenor wanted the service in his town. He will be buried with his parents, Fernando and Adele, at a cemetery near his estate on the outskirts of Modena.

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