It takes a big voice a long time to develop properly; the bigger it is, the harder it is to develop the technique. Richard Bonynge Read Quote
If I can’t do an opera as well as most people, I won’t do it at all. I don’t want to touch Wagner because I think a lot of people do it a hell of a lot better than I could. I do the operas I think I can do, know something about. Richard Bonynge Read Quote
The idea is not to have one great singer surrounded by a bunch of nit wits. When the others are good, too, that’s when you get something happening in opera. Richard Bonynge Read Quote
I like digging around. I’m a real magpie. I used to raid the old music shops in the early ’50s in Paris and Brussels. You could pick up some incredible and often valuable music for almost nothing back then. Richard Bonynge Read Quote
When I started, I’d never had a conducting lesson in my life; I could just do it. Richard Bonynge Read Quote
The most important thing for any performer is to know your own weaknesses. It’s much more important to know what you can’t do than what you can do. Richard Bonynge Read Quote
Lots of young singers come to me and ask, ‘May I sing to you?’ I say, ‘Yes, you can sing to me as long as you don’t mind what I tell you, because I’m not going to flatter you. I’m going to tell you what I think.’ Oh, yes, they’re quite happy about that, until they hear it. Richard Bonynge Read Quote
