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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Critics complained it wasn't opera, it wasn't a musical. You give someone something delicious to eat and they complain because read more

Critics complained it wasn't opera, it wasn't a musical. You give someone something delicious to eat and they complain because they have no name for 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.

Opera is where a guy gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings.

Opera is where a guy gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings.