Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the
back and, instead of bleeding, he sings.
?Ed Gardner
An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and
ends long after it has come down. It starts in my
imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part
of my life long after I've left the opera house.
?Maria Callas
Any subject is good for opera if the composer
feels it so intently he must sing it out.
?Gian Carlo Menotti
But to me the actual sound of the words is all
important; I feel always that the words complete
the music and must never be swallowed up in it.
?Lotte Lehmann
Give me a laundry-list
and I'll set it to music.
?Gioacchino Rossini
Going to the opera, like getting drunk, is a
sin that carries its own punishment with it.
?Hannah More
I seem to write an opera about every 20 years;
if you live long enough you can write four operas.
I finished my third in 1970.
?Virgil Thomson
If you can sell green toothpaste in this
country, you can sell opera.
?Sarah Caldwell
