I'm a true opera buff. Operas make the best stories.

In my teens, I saw a terrible production of 'Die Walkuere.' To a person of 15, it was just awful, and it put me…

— Sam Wanamaker

You can make a debut in 25 operas. But to make a debut at the Metropolitan Opera is huge.

— Kristine Opolais

I became a set designer for opera. I'm a great opera buff, I love classical music, and I needed a time-out.

— Maurice Sendak

Our mistake, you see, was to write interminable large operas, which had to fill an entire evening. And now along comes someone with a…

— Giuseppe Verdi

If I felt that one of my operas did not come off I would certainly say so.

— Carlisle Floyd

I like Strauss's operas because it's all women's voices; I like opera that's hysterical.

— Ron Mael

'Macbeth' is one of the best operas ever, and doing it was a great experience. I added some things to the opera based from…

— Dario Argento

I do other sorts of things. I act in other people's movies. I direct operas. I write books.

— Werner Herzog

I look for stories that tell transformative, emotional journeys, have big emotional worlds, feel very relevant and true to the times we're living in…

— Jake Heggie

In my iPod, there are many operas, from A to Z. I have 'Aida' and 'Boheme' and 'Butterfly' and 'Cavalleria'. My passion is for…

— Andrea Bocelli

I have attended operas, whenever I could not help it, for fourteen years now; I am sure I know of no agony comparable to…

— Mark Twain

Professionally, I did a couple of operas when I was in school, when I was 18.

— Lucy Griffiths

Growing up, for years and years I had no idea what the plots of operas were, and that's part of what fascinated me -…

— Rufus Wainwright

As any opera fan knows, lawyers and judges do not fare well in most operas. Just consider the productions of 'Andrea Chenier,' 'Aida, Norma,'…

— Karen DeCrow

I conclude that the Wagnerian operas which are already in the repertoire, and other masterworks as well, stand in no further need of my…

— Franz Liszt