When the music and the characters are flawlessly synchronized, the opera develops an emotional force that movies and plays cannot match.

I'd really been interested in opera when I was about 16, and I really like staging them.

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

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.

The number of opera houses around the world and the high attendance rates show that opera an art form that is more popular than ever.

In opera, everyone's watching from a fixed viewpoint, and that really challenges you. Lighting, the sets, stage groupings, the music-but doesn't relate too much to film.