A good pupil-teacher relationship has to be built up over time. I can't see the value of someone coming into the room for a few minutes and saying, "Look, you're doing this wrong." |
By the second day after that performance, I couldn't walk -- I couldn't even get to my front door. |
Falstaff is very demanding vocally but dramatically it is something to get my teeth into. I'm really looking forward to that. |
For the last ten years my only teacher has been Rudolf Pierne. He is a superb pianist, conductor, linguist and a great singing teacher. He knows my voice and has looked after its development. |
Good acting is about being as natural and calm as possible. These days producers have such definite ideas that you have to be prepared to do whatever they ask. |
I enjoy all aspects of singing and I'm luckily given the choice to be part of different styles of music. |
I hated canceling. Obviously, when you cancel, people miss the artist they've been counting on -- sometimes counting on years in advance. Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing I could have done about it. I was going through hell. |
I know many people find Wagner boring, and I'm no different, but by not being pretentious I hope to make it accessible. |
I missed out on seeing my two boys being born, because of my profession, ... I was rehearsing 'Don Giovanni' in Salzburg when the first one was born, and I was in New York rehearsing 'Figaro' when the second was born. |
I remember when I rang the Opera House in Covent Garden to say, 'I'm having terrible back problems,' ... They tried everything to help get me there. They said, 'You can sing from a chair.' But the thing was, I couldn't even sit. |
I started preparing Wolfram long ago because there was practically no stage time and no rehearsals at the Met, just a week. Luckily I'm a quick learner. |
I think every singer should be able to jump in for a singer who has been sick, for instance, and learn an opera in two days. I know people who can do it. |
I work on my voice through what I have to sing. |
I'm accustomed to the ticket sales picking up in the week before the festival. But I am delighted the opera gala on Sunday night is sold out a week before the concert and we've sold more than 7,000 tickets for two other concerts. |
I've asked Tom in the past, but I don't know what was wrong with him as Tommy boy didn't return any of my calls, |