Gian Carlo Menotti Quotes

Italian - Composer | July 7, 1911 - February 1, 2007

It was my contention that opera can not only pay for itself if it is well given, but it can also command a much wider audience if given like a play with lots of rehearsals and wonderful singers that fit the role.

Gian Carlo Menotti

PlayAudienceOperaPayWonderful

Now, all of a sudden, every college and every university has an opera theater. Every little city has its little group.

Gian Carlo Menotti

CityCollegeNowGroupOperaLittle

The only thing that interests me in music is to be able to reach into the, let's call it, 'collective unconscious' of what is noblest in the human spirit, the way you find in the music of Mozart and Beethoven and Verdi that wonderful quality that not a note can be changed.

Gian Carlo Menotti

MusicQualityMeReachYouFind

My advice to composers is, 'Try to reach 90, and everyone will love you.'

Gian Carlo Menotti

LoveAdviceReachYouWillTry

I have a heart problem, so I have to simplify my life and be content with memories and friends and music.

Gian Carlo Menotti

LifeMusicHeartMemoriesProblem

I can sit on a chair with a score and give myself a wonderful performance.

Gian Carlo Menotti

MyselfPerformanceChairI CanSit

The Greeks said the artist doesn't actually have to travel and look around. You stay where God has put you, and you dig as deep as you can. This is what I've done.

Gian Carlo Menotti

GodTravelDeepYouArtistLook

I guess I am running the risk of becoming the Hans Christian Andersen of opera.

Gian Carlo Menotti

I AmChristianRiskOperaBecoming

I'm not very sympathetic to the tendency to bring art to the people.

Gian Carlo Menotti

ArtPeopleBringSympatheticVery

It's always what you did before. The year before is always so much better. Even when the critics hated what you did then, it always looks better five years later.

Gian Carlo Menotti

BetterYearYouLooksCriticsYears

The Italians are very unmusical. If I go to a Protestant church in London or Amsterdam or listen to a black choir, I hear four-part harmony. Italians could never do that. In Italy, we all have to sing the melody because we cannot harmonise.

Gian Carlo Menotti

BlackChurchHarmonyGoLondonSing

The creation of Spoleto was a social experiment. Because I've always suffered guilt from being a Catholic, when I was in my fifties I felt a need of being needed.

Gian Carlo Menotti

GuiltCreationNeedExperimentBeing

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