Tears at Pavarotti's final curtain call

MODENA, Italy - Luciano Pavarotti received a final, tearful standing ovation after a recording of the great Italian tenor singing a duet of "Panis Angelicus" with his father was played during a somber funeral yesterday in his hometown cathedral.

Many of the mourners cried as the tenor's unmistakable voice filled the cathedral, a poignant reminder of the talent lost with his death Thursday at age 71 after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer.

Pavarotti and his father had sung the duet in 1978 in the same cathedral - an event Archbishop Benito Cocchi said was described by someone who attended it as "a weaving of two tenors."

In a series of eulogies, Pavarotti was remembered as one of the world's greatest singers, a symbol of Italy, a humanitarian and - in a message from his 4-year-old daughter, Alice - a father.

"Papa, you have loved me so much, I know you will always protect me," his daughter said in a message read during the service, while her mother, Nicoletta Mantovani, sobbed in the front row.

Among the 700 guests were Italian Premier Romano Prodi, U2 lead singer Bono, movie director Franco Zeffirelli, and former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Also in the front row were Pavarotti's first wife, Adua, his three grown daughters, and his sister.

The 90-minute service was filled with music, from Bulgarian-born soprano Raina Kabaivanska, who cried as she sang the opening hymn, Verdi's "Ave Maria," to tenor Andrea Bocelli's "Ave Verum" during the communion. Flutist Andrea Griminelli played a solo.

Thousands of admirers filled the piazza outside the cathedral, watching the service on a big screen. The crowd erupted in applause when the white, maple casket covered with flowers - including Pavarotti's favorite, sunflowers - was carried outside by 11 pallbearers. At the same instant, the Italian Air Force's precision flying team roared overhead, trailing vapors of green, red and white - the colors of the Italian flag.