Birgit Nilsson

“Help, help! There's a tenor in my soup!”

“Isolde is a nice, easy part. You just stand there and sing.”

“The best thing about an La Scala first night is that it is the last La Scala first night.”

“You must have the iron lungs of a blacksmith, the nerves of a matador and the concentration of a Buddhist monk to sing Wagner.”

“When I sing Wagner, I am a different person.”

“Pavarotti is a great singer, but he's a bigger eater.”

“My checks are never late. I never have trouble with my voice.”

“You have to be born with a voice. You can't make a voice. You can only train what you have.”

“The taxes in Sweden are so high, I am working for the government half of the year.”

“My home is where my suitcase is.”

“I'm no diva. I'm a farmer's daughter from Sweden.”

“The main thing is to have a gutsy voice, one that is really in the body, and then you have to have a head to control it.”

“I sang from my stomach. The maestro said, 'Her voice is in her pocketbook!' It's true.”

“I have always tried to be true to myself, to be honest, and to be a good colleague.”