Lesley Garrett Quotes

People often called us perfectionists, but we were not looking for perfection. We were looking for some kind of magic in the music.

I am attracted only to music which I consider to be better than it can be performed.

American musicians are very giving - they have the highest standard in the world - but they are also very demanding in their conditions.

It's really about making the best music you can make. It's really about working hard.

I've had the healthy and sobering experience of constantly working with music that is invariably better than any performance of it can be.

Let me say I was trained at Juilliard. I have a very high standard. I expect everybody around me to work equally as hard because people pay a lot of money for tickets. They demand the best that we have.

A lot of people may not know how competitive it is to play classical music, because when you think about it, the music that you're playing is music that's been here for years. And all you're trying to do is improve upon it when you play.

I've never made a bad song.

There's a lot of really talented people in Utah, people who would really make an effort to make the music the best that it could be and as emotional as it could be.

When I was younger, studying classical music, I really had to put in the time. Three hours a day is not even nice - you have to put in six.

There is no 'perfect' in music. If I ever came off the stage and felt it could not be better, it would then be time to quit.

I didn't just want to be Frank's daughter who sang Boots. I take my music very seriously and studied very hard. It's not a joke to me.

I expect the audience to come up to my level. I am not interested in compromising my music to make it palatable to an assumed sub-standard mass.

I just want to give people the best album that I possibly can.

Well, the very best operas are the ones written by the very best composers.

There's a lot of integrity with musicians; you really still aspire to grow, and be great, to be the best version of yourself you can be.

Classical music is always a really great way for me to get my chops to where I want them to be.

The expression of this idea is Queens of the Stone Age, but the idea is that you will never slack on the music and will always humble yourself at the alter of Rock.

I prefer career artists that have spent time honing their craft, as opposed to, 'I won a karaoke contest on a reality show and now I have a record.' That's such a drag. The music that comes out of it is so poor.

When I think of the future, I think a lot of Quincy Jones and how he is an inspiration. Look at the quality of his work over so many years. He didn't even make his best record, 'Thriller,' until he was 50. That gives me something to look forward to. Nothing pulls you back into the studio more than the belief that your best record is still ahead.

Yes, bad or mediocre ballets can be useful to the dancers and temporarily fun for the audience, but in the long run, the lowering of standards can only erode the art form we all love.

It's important for me to put out things that I think are good - I want to be a fan of my own stuff. I also want my live shows to be really awesome, and dance is such an important element for me and my performances.

There used to be a certain condescension to Mozart. His music was regarded as pleasant. He was a porcelain figure playing a porcelain harpsichord.

I believe that music is about making quality things, making quality art, and no matter who you decide to work with, you and that person have to come up with something special, come up with something that is excellent material, so whoever hears it and reviews it will like it.

There's a higher place that I have no illusions about reaching. There's a sophistication and aesthetic about composers who only write only for the music's sake.