I do hope that our spring will be starting shortly and we will all be able to enjoy some sunshine again.

I performed in Sydney some years ago for the Sydney Festival and I am just so pleased to be returning to the wonderful Sydney Opera House and also performing in Melbourne for the first time.

I would just like to say that opera is no longer about fat people in breastplates shattering wine glasses.

That was when I realised that music is the most profound, magical form of communication there is.

Opera is credible drama now, and it costs less than going to a football match. What have you got to lose?

The musical heritage of Yorkshire is deep and wide.

To tell you the truth, I never listen to opera at home.

I'm engaging my diaphragm as I'm speaking to you right now.

There are a lot of unseen elements to having a successful singing career.

It worries me that young singers think you can shortcut the training and go straight to fame and fortune, and programmes like Pop Idol have encouraged that.

I do a lot of vocal hygiene.

There is only one true wealth in all the universe--living time.

What's wrong with people?" she says, almost too quiet for me to hear. "Were they born with parts missing or did it fall out somewhere along the way?

You’re hated by some, loved by others, but that’s what’s great about being different. If everybody loved you, that means you’re not doing the right thing most of the time.

Obviously talent gets you to a certain point, but it's what you do with it, how you handle.

Alcohol makes other people less tedious, and food less bland, and can help provide what the Greeks called entheos, or the slight buzz of inspiration when reading or writing

When you're not winning it's about how you're not getting it done.

The challenge we now face is to build on the record of the past, to continue accepting new responsibilities and seeking new opportunities to serve.

How was it possible for the world to be so beautiful and so cruel at the same time?

In a world of such beauty as birds in flight, surely I can come to feel at home again, even after my loss.

I never had to answer to anyone