Preparations are being made for the funeral of Luciano Pavarotti, the world famous tenor who died in Italy on Thursday. Celebrities and politicians from around the world will be travelling to his home town of Modena on Saturday. This report from Christian Fraser:

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The family have asked for a solemn funeral, though in many ways it's taken the shape of a state funeral. The Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, has signalled his wish to attend and the Italian papers have speculated that the British royal family might also send a representative.

There will also be a long list of celebrities and musicians here. The line-up includes many of those with whom he shared the stage - Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Bono, Sting and Elton John among them. Pavarotti's great friend Andrea Bocelli will sing the Panis Angelicus which Pavarotti had sung with his father in this same cathedral many years ago. And the funeral will be shown live on Italian television - a screen in the cathedral square for the many thousands of people expected.

Christian Fraser, BBC News, Modena

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a steady stream of people filing past
many people walking in a long line, one behind another, past

open casket
coffin, i.e. a long box in which a dead person is buried, with the top off so that people can see the body

tuxedo
a man's jacket worn at formal events with matching trousers and a bow tie

rosaries
strings of beads (i.e. small decorative balls) used especially by Roman Catholics and Buddhists to count prayers

for a last glimpse
to see briefly for the last time

solemn
dignified and accompanied by ceremony

taken the shape of
become more like

signalled his wish to
indicated he would like to; said he would

speculated
guessed, although without enough information

shared the stage
sang/performed together in front of an audience

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