My greatest experiences in the theatre and the most religious experiences in my life - of which going to the opera is one for me - have been with the Romantic composers' repertoire: it's Wagner, it's Strauss, Verdi, Puccini. That era gets me every time.

I came out of the closet very young, and I had to cut my teeth pretty fast.

Everything I do, I feel is genius. Whether it is or it isn't.

It seems like the older I get, the more unreal the world becomes.

I am undefinable. I don't fit into any particular category.

I like to sing to Verdi, I like singing to Sibelius, and Mahler maybe.

Certainly in terms of my life - anybody's life - you go through death, childbirth and marriage, glory and defeat, and so on.