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My worry is that opera will become an historic art form as opposed to a living, breathing thing.

Opera is full of trappings that make us go away from being human. You can't let them do that. You can't walk like you're in an opera! You have to make it real. You have to just be there.

It seems to me opera is just as relevant as an expressive art as anything else.

Opera is the ultimate art form. It has singing and music and drama and dance and emotion and story.

Opera is one of the most important art forms. It should be listened to and appreciated by everyone.

It is essential to do everything possible to attract young people to opera so they can see that it is not some antiquated art form but a repository of the most glorious music and drama that man has created.

But nevertheless, it's music ultimately that matters in opera, and opera is a piece of music reaching out as a vision in sound reaching out to the world.

I think opera has gained a kind of glamorous appeal. It's a live performance that aligns all of the arts, and when it is represented in the media, in film in particular, it is presented as something that is really a special event, whether it's a great date or something that's just hugely romantic.

Opera is the original marriage of words and music, and there's a theatre element, a dramatic element. It's right up my alley.

I like the idea of people coming to opera for the first time and finding it an enjoyable experience. I don't like the fact that opera is seen as elitist and all black ties and that stuff.