You listen to Handel operas, right? And there are a thousand of them, right? And they all sound alike. If I look back on my work, maybe it's the same thing.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I listen to Handel's vocal music, almost exclusively.
My operas usually come from musical ideas rather than ideas about subject matter.
An aria in an opera - Handel's 'Ombra mai fu,' for example - gets along with an incredibly small number of words and ideas and a large amount of variation and repetition. That's the beauty of it. It's not taxing to the listener's intelligence because if you haven't heard it the first time round, it'll come around again.
People perceive opera and classical as elitist - I disagree. I've always tried to mix the two, make it more accessible.
I don't find much influence in opera. It was such a different part of me.
If I felt that one of my operas did not come off I would certainly say so.
In my iPod, there are many operas, from A to Z. I have 'Aida' and 'Boheme' and 'Butterfly' and 'Cavalleria'. My passion is for opera, but when I'm in the car, I listen to everything.
I don't have a classical-music mentality. I haven't been taught that way, and it doesn't fit my character, either.
Well, the very best operas are the ones written by the very best composers.
An operatic voice is like no other.