I also always carry my flute. It's very important for me to try to relax when I'm travelling, and playing my flute helps me to unwind.
If you have a great love of singing, supported by others' fondness for your voice, then it is worth making every effort, of making every sacrifice, to achieve your goal. A great voice will easily find teachers who are willing to help a struggling young talent, and the ways of the Lord are infinite.
A country that has really resonated with me and I was really impressed with was Israel. I found that the whole country had a very special atmosphere. I was there to perform, but it was one of the few places that I've visited over the years that I had some free time to explore, and I was hugely impressed by all the religious history there.
I have big, big stage fright.
Stage fright is my worst problem.
Every audience has its character; I like America - they love me. I suffer from stage fright, but in America not so much.
Stage fright is my worst problem. A voice is very intimate. It's something of your own. So there's always this fear, because you feel naked. There's a fear of not reaching up to expectations.
I've been to almost every country in the world, and the most frustrating thing for me has been that my schedule has always been so busy that there's so little time before and after performances to explore where I'm visiting.
Criticism in good faith is good. When it's targeted solely to destruction, I'm not interested.
It's important for me who is at the table with me; the moment when everyone speaks to each other and everyone listens. If there's good food, it's much better.
I always knew I would sing. I just didn't know if I would be successful or not. But I sang at school, I sang at parties, I sang at church. Everyone always asked me to sing. I'd be playing football with my friends, and my parents would ask me to sing for their guests. I was never very happy about that because I wanted to play football.
I have always felt an excellent rapport ever since my very first concert in Britain at Hampton Court. I have always felt understood. The British understand opera very well.
The most widely criticised singers in the history of opera, Maria Callas and Franco Corelli, happen also to be the best singers. I am honoured for being part of their group.
Music is an art that goes well beyond science. Proof can be found in the huge amount of studies that have been carried out throughout the world based on music-therapy and the important results achieved.
My idol has been Franco Corelli. But every singer can teach you something.
When I was very young, I started trying to sing like the great tenor Mario Lanza; my family used to play his records. We all learn best by imitating others.
To sing a song is like whispering to a child's ear. It is an art heavily relying on improvisation.
I have to face life with a newly found passion. I must rediscover the irresistible will to learn, to live and to love.
My life experience has taught me nothing happens by chance. Even the idea of the ball in a roulette game: it's not chance it ends up in a certain place. It's forces that are at play.
I loved playing football. In this particular match the ball happened to hit my right eye, the only one which I could see light and colour with.
