To me, songs come of their own volition - and with an open-ended philosophy.

I think the minute you mention death, people run for the hills - unless it's heavy metal. People do not like death.

But I want to deepen as an artist, and working with Shakespeare definitely points in that direction.

I've been thinking of trying my hand at rap. I've been recording snippets on my BlackBerry.

When I wrote the opera, I made a deal with myself that for at least an hour a day I would work on it, even if it meant just sitting on my piano bench, staring into space and thinking about it. It's about keeping it regular, like your bowel movements - let's get real: it's your bodily artistic movements! It comes from the same place.

Prima Donna is my kind of love song to opera but it's not the full experience.

For me, the iPhone is harder than reading Faust.