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

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.

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

In Australia, they set up a special fund to kick films off. It was quite an enlightened sort of move. You could go to this government bureau with scripts and and get finance for films.

When we were trying to get the money together for the film, one reason that was consistently given for not investing in it was that everyone kept saying no one could direct it well enough to entertain an audience for 100 minutes essentially watching three people chatting in the kitchen.

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

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.