Give me a laundry-list and I'll set it to music.

Give me a laundry-list and I'll set it to music.

Going to the opera, like getting drunk, is a sin that carries its own punishment with it.

Going to the opera, like getting drunk, is a sin that carries its own punishment with it.

I seem to write an opera about every 20 years; if you live long enough you can write four operas. read 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.

An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in read more

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.

If you can sell green toothpaste in this country, you can sell opera.

If you can sell green toothpaste in this country, you can sell opera.

But to me the actual sound of the words is all important; I feel always that the words complete the read more

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.

Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings

Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings

Parsifal - the kind of opera that starts at six o'clock and after it has been going three hours, you read more

Parsifal - the kind of opera that starts at six o'clock and after it has been going three hours, you look at your watch and it says 6:20

I wouldn't mind seeing opera die. Ever since I was a boy, I regarded opera as a ponderous anachronism, almost read more

I wouldn't mind seeing opera die. Ever since I was a boy, I regarded opera as a ponderous anachronism, almost the equivalent of smoking