"I didn't know any opera. I sang the songs I heard on the radio. But in those days, they played popular songs sung by the best opera voices, like Beniamino Gigli singing Mamma and Tito Schipa singing Vivere. I didn't know it then, but they were my first voice teachers!"

(Renata Scotto, soprano e regista teatrale; Savona, 24 febbraio 1934 – New York, 16 agosto 2023)