I love famous singers quotes!

 

"Never sing into the nasal cavity, it is against all the rules of song. There are a number of wrong sorts of voices, which should be mentioned to be shunned---the white voice, the throaty voice, the breathy voice, the nasal voice and the bleat." ~ Enrico Caruso

 

"The breath pressure, which includes abdomen, diaphragm and chest muscles, is often named Atemstauen (breath stop) or appoggio, the breath lean or breath prop."
- Lilli Lehmann

 

"This feeling of singing against the chest with the weight of air pressing up against it is known as breath support, in Italian we have even a better word, appoggio, which is the breath prop or lean. Never for a moment sing without this appoggio, this breath prop. Its development and its constant use mean the restoration of sick or fatigued voices and the prolonging of all one's vocal powers."
- Luisa Tetrazzini

 

“Technique is inseparable from art. Only by mastering the technique of his material is the artist in a condition to mould his mental work of art and to give it … to others. Even artists intellectually highly gifted remain crippled without this mastery of the technique.” – Lilli Lehmann

 

THIS is what today’s singers do not understand. No matter how much effort you are putting into conveying something, if you don‘t have the technique it is not going to come off.

 

Nineteenth century Shakuhachi master Hisamatsu Fûyô:

Mastery does not lay in the mastery of technique, but in penetrating the heart of the music. However, he who has not mastered the technique will not penetrate the heart of the music.

 

I may be cheating, as this is not a quote by a famous singer, but by his grandma, and it is not about singing, but about how he talks. Nonetheless, I find the anecdote amusing.

In his memoirs, Hans Hotter tells the story that , when he was young, he went to Berlin to study opera singing. When he went home to take a break, his grandmother was shocked by his newly acquired accent: “You sound like a Prussian!”

 

I love it! Bring on more like this!

 

"To sing is an expression of your being." ~ Kirsten Flagstad

 

Advice to young sopranos: Leave Wagner alone! Because he calls for powers that can be developed only after many years of singing.
— Kirsten Flagstad

She also said that her voice simply grew, and it’s this growth that is the most important thing. (paraphrased)