Among those at the funeral were Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, film director Franco Zeffirelli, former U.N.

NPR: Pavarotti Laid to Rest in Italy

Time was when you could give audiences a thrill simply by casting young actors in the title roles, but ever since Franco Zeffirelli filmed the sorrowful tale of the star-crossed lovers in 1968, that expedient has come to be taken for granted.

WSJ: Star-Crossed Teens Clueless in Verona

Amazingly, the production directed by Franco Zeffirelli marked the first time Ms. Callas and Mr. Gobbi together performed "Tosca" before an audience. (Alas, Mr. di Stefano is absent.) But the voices are a decade older.

WSJ: Maria Callas | Puccini's Tosca | The Measure of a Diva | Masterpiece by David Mermelstein