Opera Quote by W. H. Auden

No good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible.

— W. H. Auden

“At the opera, the music makes no sense; here in the street it has just the right demented touch to give it poignancy.”

— Henry Miller

“Opera has the power to warn you that you have wasted your life. You haven't acted on your desires. You've suffered a stunted, vicarious…

— Wayne Koestenbaum

Any subject is good for opera if the composer feels it so intently he must sing it out.

— Gian Carlo Menotti

“Pretend you're not alone, Like you are center stage on Broadway. 'Cause when you're on your own a little opera goes a long way.”

— Sky Sailing Adam Young

The trouble with the opera is there's always to much singing.

— Claude Debussy

“I like your opera - I think I will set it to music”

— Ludwig van Beethoven

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him sing opera.”

— Richard Ford

The idea is not to have one great singer surrounded by a bunch of nit wits. When the others are good, too, that's when…

— Richard Bonynge

In opera, there is always too much singing.

— Claude Debussy

But Opera Man, I go, 'Oh, crap! Why didn't I think of that?' Because I could sing fake opera pretty good.

— Jon Lovitz

“In fact, is the idea of a serious comparison of American musicals and opera really so outrageous?”

— Lawrence W. Levine