Gian Carlo Menotti in His Own Words

From today’s Italian newspapers:

“What will the critics write when I die? I really don’t know. And I hope I’ll have better things to do than read the newspapers, then. When I was alive, they wrote all kinds of things. Better yet, the Italian critics mostly wrote that I am not a contemporary composer.  Because most critics want to be the ones who decide everything about art, about time, about life itself. Success doesn’t count; no, it even makes you suspect.

What is fame? Years ago I had to drive from Spoleto to my hometown, Cadegliano, in the North. We were driving too fast, and close to Varese we were stopped by the police. I didn’t have my driving license. I’m Gian Carlo Menotti, I said. Who? I was finally recognised by the lady who ran a bakery in my home town. She didn’t know my work, she just remembered me as my momma’s son”.

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Opera Chic: Gian Carlo Menotti in His Own Words.