MODENA, Italy — Recordings of Luciano Pavarotti’s voice boomed out in Modena’s main piazza on Saturday as mourners waited to pay final respects to the tenor before an invitation-only funeral in his hometown’s cathedral.

Some well-wishers waited under the large loudspeakers erected in Piazza Grande, arms crossed and eyes closed as they listened to the voice that was as much at home on stage with rock stars as it was in the world’s great opera houses.

Pavarotti’s body, dressed in a black tuxedo and with his hands holding his trademark white handkerchief, went back on view at dawn Saturday. The cathedral remained open to the public until just before the mid-afternoon start of the funeral service, which was being televised live.

Admirers signed a book of condolences placed by a vase of sunflowers — Pavarotti’s favorite — outside the cathedral. The Foreign Ministry said similar books of condolences would be available to well-wishers around the world at Italian embassies and consulates.

He died on Thursday in his home on Modena’s outskirts after battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year. He was 71 and was beloved by generations of operagoers and pop fans, for his breathtaking high “Cs” and his hearty renditions of folk songs like “O Sole Mio,” and popular tunes like “My Way.”

In an indication of the outpouring of affection for Pavarotti, city officials said 87,000 memorial cards had been handed out inside the Romanesque cathedral as of Saturday morning.