PATRICE GREANVILLE—Mario Lanza, who crossed the artistic firmament of America and the world like a comet in the 1940s and 1950s, to die suddenly of a heart attack in 1959 at age 38 in Rome, the land of his ancestors, is credited with inspiring some of today’s greatest classical singers. Carreras, Domingo and even the incomparable Pavarotti have claimed a debt to Lanza. Such high testimony might have surprised even Lanza, not exactly given to excessive self-doubt. To this day, few people know that Lanza was born Alfredo Arnold Cocozza, to humble immigrant Italian parents on both sides of his genetic tree. Mario Lanza was the stage name he chose in honor of his mother, Maria Lanza.