It is not enough to have a beautiful voice...

It is not enough to have a beautiful voice. Not that there is anything wrong with a beautiful voice, no. Exactly because a beautiful voice… what does that mean? When you have to interpret a role you must have thousands of colors during the performance to portray the words you do: happiness, joy, unhappiness, sorrow, fear. How can you have just a beautiful voice, period? You must put that to the service of expression, so therefore, even if you have to sing harshly sometimes (which I frequently have done, shrill) it is a necessity of expression. It is written there, you have to respect the words and you have to do it, even if people will not understand. But on the long road they will, because you have to persuade people of what you are doing. We are not doing anything special. We are doing what we’re supposed to. It’s written there, we have to.”

—	Maria Callas - Interview with music critic John Ardoin in Dallas, U.S.A. | Source: YouTube | Year: 1968 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrNlDtiVOs4]