I never for a moment believed they would perform at 10 o'clock in the morning. It's hard enough getting them to perform at 8 at night.

We are similar to a museum. My function is to present old masterpieces in modern frames.

Miss Renata Tebaldi was always sweet and very firm... she had dimples of iron.

Expressions of disapproval are on a level of vulgarity that cannot be tolerated. The way to express disapproval is to do without applause.

The opera always loses money. That's as it should be. Opera has no business making money.

It is so much worse to be a mediocre artist than to be a mediocre post-office clerk.

How nice the human voice is when it isn't singing.

We want an ensemble of stars, not comets.

I will not enter into a public feud with Madame Callas, since I am well aware that she has considerably greater competence and experience at that kind of thing than I have.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain the services of first-class conductors. They are sick and tired of dealing with singers, as I am.

I never socialized with singers. It's very dangerous if you work with opera... I don't think that in 30 years a singer has entered my apartment.

You're paved in my heart like an old road. Like the pebbles in a pebble field, dirt in dirt, dust in dust, cobwebs in cobwebs.

The future belongs to those who learn from the past and live brilliantly in the present moment.

There are always certain things which are certain and certain things which are uncertain for us to think about each day and when such are over, there shall always be something to think about

If someone tells you that you can achieve your dreams with little to no work, they are lying to you.

He doesn't translate well into our generation.

I can't even think of the words of what I'm feeling. This man [Prince] was my everything, we had a family. I am beyond deeply saddened and devastated.

Political stuff is all about his [Hunter S. Thompson] reaction to a situation. And my stuff is much more externally driven.

The next thing I would have to go with is diet because it is so hard and mentally tough. By comparison the training is the easiest of them all because it's my hobby as well as my job.

In the end, one or the other will triumph - a funeral dirge will be sung over the Soviet republic or over world capitalism.