Leading performers from Cecilia Bartoli to Anne Sofie von Otter share their memories of transformative encounters with music and theater In this volume, 70 performing artists share memories of those encounters with classical music and theater that forever altered their lives. These memories often served as a catalyst for their professional development or as a midcareer intervention--a nudge to follow an impulse and shift directions. Throughout these conversations--facilitated by the Swiss soprano singer Christine Cerletti and the writer, filmmaker, presenter and vocal coach Thomas Voigt--pivotal moments from music and theater history are interwoven into the artists' personal histories. The voices represented include Michele Angelini, Benjamin Appl, Cecilia Bartoli, Brigitte Fassbaender, Renée Fleming, Ioan Holender, Jonas Kaufmann, Jack Mastroianni, Anja Silja, Bo Skovhus, Jörg Widmann and Anne Sofie von Otter. Voicesillustrates their accounts with more than 400 photographs. James Jolly, British editor-in-chief of Gramophone, contributes a foreword and German music critic Jürgen Kesting contributes texts.