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

don't perspire while conducting - only the audience should get warm.

Must one become seventy years old to recognize that one's greatest strength lies in creating musical kitsch?

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

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

If you think that the brass is not blowing loud enough, mute it by a couple of degrees.

I want to be able to depict in music a glass of beer so accurately that every listener can tell whether it is a Pilsner or a Kulmbacher.