Andris Nelsons Quotes

I am under no illusion that I will ever be the greatest opera composer in the world, with Wagner and Verdi and Strauss before me. I think my work could fit very nicely into musicals, though.

I've always gravitated towards opera, and the Royal Opera House is quite possibly the greatest opera house on earth.

I would love to sing opera.

I started performing opera when I was 10 years old. I didn't perform as Zola Jesus until I was probably 18.

I began by listening to my mother's collection of Amelita Galli-Curci and Lily Pons records, and then was taken (at age eight) to hear Pons at a Met performance of Lakme. It was at that moment that I decided to become an opera star. Not just an opera singer, but an opera star!

I sang opera for over four years when I was younger.

A lot of people hated every moment of my 'Ring.' And a lot of people who had never been to an opera bought subscriptions to the next season.

I had a year at 3 when I wanted to be a conductor in the opera.

An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house.

Music and opera are a big part of my life.

I have always loved music and singing, and I am open to listen to any type of music. Regardless of my mood, my heart is always set racing when I listen to opera. When I decide which music I want to hear, my choice is almost invariably an opera recording.

Let's be clear: I love singing at the Met.

I studied classical opera, so I was always singing in Italian and German and French.

The Metropolitan Opera, of course, is the gold standard in opera. The Met experience includes the huge stage, the vast audience, the elaborate sets. Anyone who saw 'Faust' there - I did - knows exactly what hell is like, complete with fire, smoke and terror.

I really wanted to be an opera soprano.

The music of the most popular operas is so highly esteemed, it can stand endless revivals.

Grand opera is the most powerful of stage appeals and that almost entirely through the beauty of music.

Americans, they have an incredible operatic tradition: the Metropolitan Opera House is - if not the most prestigious - one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world for over 100 years.

I enjoy listening to opera at home, occasionally, but I would much rather see it than just listen to it.

I loved singing. But can you imagine my voice in an opera house?

If you decide to work with the opera world, chances are there are going to be people who resist that.

I just started studying opera - very, very much as hobby - and for some reason I've been gravitating toward French composers, like a lot of Debussy and Faure. I find it a really sinuous and spooky language to sing in.

After conducting Wagner, Beethoven's triple concerto is like taking an Alka Seltzer.

But I won't deprive myself of singing opera as long as my voice follows.

In opera, there is always too much singing.