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

The music of the most popular operas is so highly esteemed, it can stand endless revivals.

Film is shot in fragments, and the same moments can be shot again and again until the director is satisfied.

I thought, This is fabulous. It sent shivers up my spine. I thought, What kinds of people are these that would produce this kind of music in a camp? All the prison camp stories I've seen, and heard of, were about the heroism of men. As I researched this and heard the music, I realized that women were heroic too, on just as grand a scale. And their treatment was just as appalling.

Quite a few operas are still being commissioned around the world, although nothing apart from audience popularity can ensure more than a few performances.

In my view, the operas of Carlisle Floyd will find a place in the permanent repertoire.

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