With a film, I do my best to understand the author's intentions and try to bring the characters to life.

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

Everyone has seen photographs of Mexicans wearing those big sombreros. When you come to Mexico, the astonishing thing is, nobody wears these hats at all.

For a director, the most challenging scenes are the dialogue scenes.

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.

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.