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I've always gravitated towards opera, and the Royal Opera House is quite possibly the greatest opera house on earth.

Directing an opera is similar to directing a play. The singing must not get in the way of the drama.

When you have the cast, the sets, the lights, an opera takes on its own life. I'm not one of those directors who marches in with a set of plans.

It was my contention that opera can not only pay for itself if it is well given, but it can also command a much wider audience if given like a play with lots of rehearsals and wonderful singers that fit the role.

Now the big question is if you are going to go to all the trouble of setting an opera and making all that music and so on, there's got to be some aspect that you can do in an opera that really makes it worth while.

The director is a bit analogous to the conductor of a symphony orchestra. It's a collaborative adventure.

I don't even know if I can call myself a director.

The opera is to music what a bawdy house is to a cathedral.

I want to get out of the major opera houses.

In opera, as with any performing art, to be in great demand and to command high fees you must be good of course, but you must also be famous. The two are different things.