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

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.

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.

I don't rehearse films as much as opera or theatre. When I began directing films I thought a long rehearsal was a good idea. Experience showed me that the best performance was often left in a rehearsal room.

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

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.