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Dame Kiri Te Kanawa last night led tributes to Luciano Pavarotti, the big, bearded tenor considered by many the best of his generation.
Pavarotti died yesterday in his home in Italy. He was 71.
A huge, weeping crowd besieged the star's Modena home as news of his death spread.
Pavarotti died just before 3pm (NZ time) following a year-long fight against pancreatic cancer.
His wife Nicoletta Mantovani, 37, and his three adult daughters from his first marriage were at his bedside.
Police had to be called to control the huge number of mourners paying respects to a singer who, during a career spanning five decades, rose to become the best-known opera singer in the world - "Big Luciano" to his adoring fans.
Dame Kiri sent her condolences from Jersey, south of the British Isles, where she is preparing for a concert tonight.
"I am deeply saddened by the death of Luciano. I considered it a privilege to have sung with him and to have been able to listen to that glorious voice - surely one of the century's greatest.
"He will be greatly missed. I send my condolences to his family."
Dame Kiri performed with Pavarotti a number of times, the most notable being performances of Ortello in 1991 and La Boheme in 1995.
Placido Domingo, one of his partners in the Three Tenors (the other was Jose Carreras), paid tribute to his colleague and rival. "I always admired the God-given glory of his voice - that unmistakable special timbre from the bottom up to the very top of the tenor range.
"I also loved his wonderful sense of humour and on several occasions at our concerts we had trouble remembering that we were giving a concert before a paying audience because we had so much fun between ourselves," Domingo said.
"There were tenors and then there was Pavarotti," said Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli.
Pavarotti had suffered from pancreatic cancer since July last year. Although his family had said he was in remission, his manager said it was the illness that claimed his life.
The singer had recently assured his fans that he was in good health, and had even joked about his sickness.
Last month, he phoned a concert on the island of Ischia in the Gulf of Naples to assure the public that he was about to release a new album of choral work and that he looked forward to teaching his pupils again.
Pavarotti's health deteriorated severely last month, when he was rushed to the Policlinico hospital in Modena to be treated for a fever and a chest infection.
Yesterday, it was reported he had lapsed into unconsciousness and that he was suffering from kidney failure.
Pavarotti first performed in New Zealand at Mt Smart Stadium in 1999, commanding the-then highest ticket price ($450) for a single artist in the country's history. He returned as part of his farewell tour in 2005 to play at North Harbour Stadium.
Dame Malvina Major told Campbell Live last night how she recorded with Pavarotti in the late 1960s.
"He had a superb voice, an instrument which will be remembered for its colour ... and great strength."
Pavarotti is survived by his wife, their daughter Alice, 4, and three daughters to ex-wife Adua Veroni.
