"She opened a new door for us, for all the singers in the world, a door that had been closed. Behind it was sleeping n…"

"Some say I have a beautiful voice, some say I have not. It is a matter of opinion. All I can say, those who don't lik…"

"I admire Tebaldi's tone; it's beautiful — also some beautiful phrasing. Sometimes, I actually wish I had her voice."

"What Tullio Serafin] said that impressed me was: "When one wants to find a gesture, when you want to find how to act …"

"What a lovely voice, but who cares?"

"Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the goddamn rules."

"Bel canto does not mean beautiful singing alone. It is, rather, the technique demanded by the composers of this style…"

"It takes a little more time to get into the role, but not very much more. In making a record you don't have the sense…"

"I used to listen again and again to recordings by Maria Callas. She was so musical and so theatrical at the same time…"

"Callas, way above the rest. Tebaldi had a fantastic voice, like an angel's. But even when Callas's voice wasn't perfe…"