“Singing is the true mother tongue of all human beings, for it is the most natural and simplest way in which we are there undivided and can open up our hearts – together with all our experiences, our emotions, our hopes.”

- Lord Yehudi Menuhin

“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

“The real exertion in the case of an opera singer lies not so much in her singing as in her acting of a role, for nearly every modern opera makes great dramatic and physical demands.”

- Maria Jeritza

“You are born an artist or you are not. And you stay an artist, dear, even if your voice is less of a fireworks. The artist is always there.”

- Maria Callas

“We don't present our voices to the audience, we resonate our souls.”

- Thomas Hampson