I began when I was a child, because I was born and grew up in a little village. And many people ride the horses. So, it was a big - it has been a big passion for me.

I like reading... French, Russian classics - Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Flaubert. I also like Hemingway, Virginia Woolf.

To sing opera, one needs two things: the voice and the passion - and above all, the passion.

The fact that I am blind is not what defines my life. It should be of no more interest than my blood type. People wonder if there is a relationship between my lack of sight and the way I sing. But there's no connection.

I loved playing football. In this particular match the ball happened to hit my right eye, the only one which I could see light and colour with.

Let me say that I've never thought to conduct because the conductor has to think to the music before the orchestra. And the orchestra comes later. For me, it's terrible.

Fatherhood is a very natural thing; it's not something that shakes up my life but rather it enriches it.