Rudolf Bing Quotations

She will sing only if her husband conducts, so I accept the old Viennese saying that if you want the meat, you have to take the bones.

I don't want them to come in with a white tie, and I don't want them to come in a black tie. But I do want them to come in a tie.

I am perfectly happy to believe that nobody likes us but the public.

How nice the human voice is when it isn't singing.

Expressions of disapproval are on a level of vulgarity that cannot be tolerated. The way to express disapproval is to do without applause.

I prefer to remember the happy things over 10 years, the things that went well. Let me see, what did go well?

The opera always loses money. That's as it should be. Opera has no business making money.

There are two sighs of relief every night in the life of an opera manager. The first comes when the curtain goes up The second sigh of relief comes when the final curtain goes down without any disaster, and one realizes, gratefully, that the miracle has happened again.

It is so much worse to be a mediocre artist than to be a mediocre post-office clerk.

Confine your kissing to the irresistible.

I never for a moment believed they would perform at 10 o'clock in the morning. It's hard enough getting them to perform at 8 at night.

I never socialized with singers. It's very dangerous if you work with opera... I don't think that in 30 years a singer has entered my apartment.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain the services of first-class conductors. They are sick and tired of dealing with singers, as I am.

Miss Renata Tebaldi was always sweet and very firm... she had dimples of iron.

We want an ensemble of stars, not comets.

I will not enter into a public feud with Madame Callas, since I am well aware that she has considerably greater competence and experience at that kind of thing than I have.

We are similar to a museum. My function is to present old masterpieces in modern frames.