Ideas, like young wine, should be put in storage and taken up again only after they have been allowed to ferment and to ripen.

The aria, after all, is the soul of opera.

Its a funny thing Alice, dying is just the way I composed it in Tod und Verklärung.

The most perfect melodic shapes are found in Mozart; he has the lightness of touch which is the true objective ... Listen to the remarkable expansion of a Mozart melody, to Cherubino's 'Voi che sapete', for instance. You think it is coming to an end, but it goes farther, even farther.

The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but the most difficult to play.

I shall never be converted, and I shall remain true to my old religion of the classics until my life's end.

On conducting: If you can just barely hear the French horns on stage, the balance is perfect.