Nellie Melba quotes
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“The first rule in opera is the first rule in life: see to everything yourself”
-- Nellie MelbaSource : 1925 Melodies and Memories.
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“Music is not written in red, white and blue. It is written in the heart's blood of the composer.”
-- Nellie Melba -
“There are two things I like stiff and one of them's jelly.”
-- Nellie Melba -
“The eternal task of song can never be finished in a single lifetime. That is the beauty and fascination of the art. Once you begin to phrase finely, you will feel more joy in the beautiful finish of a beautiful phrase than that caused by the loudest applause of an immense audience. The latter excites for a moment; the former endures forever.”
-- Nellie Melba -
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“If you wish to understand me at all (and to write an autobiography is only to open a window into one's heart) you must understand first and foremost, that I am an Australian.”
-- Nellie MelbaSource : 1925 Melodies and Memories, ch.1.
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“What are we singers but the silver-voiced messengers of the poet and the musician?”
-- Nellie Melba -
“Always sing below your potential.”
-- Nellie Melba -
“You won’t be famous until people start saying the worst things they can about you. Don’t worry! It’s a good sign!”
-- Nellie Melba -
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“One of the drawbacks of Fame is that one can never escape from it.”
-- Nellie Melba -
“If I'd been a housemaid I'd have been the best in Australia - I couldn't help it. It's got to be perfection for me.”
-- Nellie MelbaSource : Said to the conductor Fritz Hart. Quoted in John Thompson On Lips of LivingMen (1962).
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