“They were born, they learned to sing, they sang, they made money and brought diamonds, they got Royalties to write in their autograph albums, and they died.”—Ernest Newman on the lives of prima donnas.
“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