Tenor

“When you think about jazz, the real pioneers of jazz were people of color, and so a lot of people think our great legacy is there. But no, we do have it in classical music, and we want to open up this discussion, so people understand and will come out and support us in classical music as well.”

“I think it’s always nice to those beautiful, miraculous, and sensitive, and introspective moments that Wagner gives you, rather than just run like a bull at a gate, as we’d say in Australia, to find those bits where you get to deploy that power. “

“It’s a very interesting category that very few people have continued the tradition. The baritenor was really the last vestige of the old style of singing that was started in the Baroque era.”

“It is a very complex opera in terms of melody but also dramatically. I’m very proud of this project, I was able to sing all these crazy music as Bellini wrote it, and it’s really great that it is there for the history of the opera.”

“It is a very complex opera in terms of melody but also dramatically. I’m very proud of this project, I was able to sing all these crazy music as Bellini wrote it, and it’s really great that it is there for the history of the opera.”

“It’s a lot to do with human interest, and the fact that these composers have stories to tell from their own point of view, which I think is very much condensed within their music. There’s something about the misery of my Celtic history which tends to resonate with composers like Janáček and other countries who have had a similar kind of exile feeling.”

“I think it’s important sometimes that when we listen to this music being sung that we forget it just connects directly into our souls, rather than being an exercise in aesthetics or something.”

“For me, everything was impossible, everything was too difficult. And I remember having the critics against me. But in the end, I was very lucky, because I had the voice for nothing, and I sang quite everything!”

“When we don’t develop as singers, we go back. And this is kind of a philosophy that we have to permanently develop the voice. It’s like walking through the mountains, you know it’s not only one peak. It’s really like a big long adventure.”

“If I just carried out a safe life, there’s a case to be made for some great singers that only did the safe path and had a wonderful career and ended on top. My option is something else. “