They were two of the most celebrated singers of the century, they studied with the same teacher, they were frequent partners on stage, and they were life long friends - literally - having met in 1935 as infants at the day care center of the cigar factory in Modena, Italy, where each of their mothers worked.
Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti both had long careers, but this week on the Lyric Stage we focus on the early part of those careers, both alone and together, some of the finest recorded singing of the 20th century.