The Opera is obviously the first draft of a fine spectacle; it suggests the idea of one. – Jean De La Bruyere
A Librettist is a mere drudge in the world of opera. – Robertson Davies
I never was an opera fan — about twenty-five musically supreme masterpieces in this curious medium apart. – Hans Keller
I love Italian opera — its so reckless. Damn Wagner, and his bellowings at Fate and death. Damn Debussy, and his averted face. I like the Italians who run all on impulse, and dont care about their immortal souls, and dont worry about the ultimate. – D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
Opera in English, is about as sensible as baseball in Italian. – H. L. Mencken
Going to the opera, like getting drunk, is a sin that carries its own punishment with it. – Hannah More
I never can hear a crowd of people singing and gesticulating, all together, at an Italian opera, without fancying myself at Athens, listening to that particular tragedy, by Sophocles, in which he introduces a full chorus of turkeys, who set about bewailing the death of Meleager. – Edgar Allan Poe
How wonderful opera would be if there were no singers. – Gioacchino Antonio Rossini
If I werent reasonably placid, I dont think I could cope with this sort of life. To be a diva, youve got to be absolutely like a horse. – Joan Sutherland
The banging and slamming and booming and crashing were something beyond belief. On Lohengrin – Mark Twain
I wouldnt mind seeing opera die. Ever since I was a boy, I regarded opera as a ponderous anachronism, almost the equivalent of smoking. – Frank Lloyd Wright
I have always believed that opera is a planet where the muses work together, join hands and celebrate all the arts. – Franco Zeffirelli
