Oh, you happy sons of the North who have been reared at the bosom of Bach, how I envy you!
Giuseppe VerdiThe artist must yield himself to his own inspiraton, and if he has a true talent, no one knows and feels better than he what suits him.
Giuseppe VerdiI order that my funeral ceremonies be extremely modest, and that they take place at dawn or at the evening Ave Maria, without song or music.
Giuseppe VerdiI deny that either singers or conductors can "create" or work creatively - this, as I have always said, is a conception that leads to the abyss.
Giuseppe VerdiOh blessed a thousand times the peasant who is born, eats and dies without anybody bothering about his affairs.
Giuseppe VerdiI have striven for perfection, it has always eluded me, but I surely had an obligation to make one more try.
Giuseppe VerdiThrough care taken over trends, the desire to be novel and affectation knowledge, we repudiate our art, our instinct, our own way of doing things; it is absurd and stupid
Giuseppe VerdiOur mistake, you see, was to write interminable large operas, which had to fill an entire evening. And now along comes someone with a one or two-act opera without all that pompous nonsense - that was a happy reform.
Giuseppe VerdiThe artist must yield himself to his own inspiration... I should compose with utter confidence a subject that set my musical blood going, even though it were condemned by all other artists as anti-musical.
Giuseppe VerdiThe success of our operas rests most of the time in the hands of the conductor. This person is as necessary as a tenor or a prima donna.
Giuseppe VerdiTo copy the truth can be a good thing, but to invent the truth is better, much better.
Giuseppe Verdi