My worry is that opera will become an historic art form as opposed to a living, breathing thing.

I have not changed with the accomplishments. I've remained the same. If I had changed, great. You know, but I haven't.

For my own singing, I used to be attracted by the baroque, the flashier the better, but now I prefer a simpler, purer style.

If I have to hold a note for a long time, I imagine it as moving and spinning, for the note has to have life. In a way, a singer actually refreshes a note with every beat that it's held.

I've lived in New York all my life, and we went to the Mormon Pageant each year in upstate New York. It still is a wonderful production. I remember going and seeing the performance and listening to the music. My father had Mormon Tabernacle Choir music, and we would listen to it and sing with it.

There's no performance where I never have to think about setting up a phrase or making a technical adjustment while I'm performing.

I want to keep my voice young, with nothing heavy.