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It worries me that young singers think you can shortcut the training and go straight to fame and fortune, and programmes like Pop Idol have encouraged that.

What people really should be able to be confident in is that the standards of music- making that classically trained musicians present is elite, it is the best and all of us as artists should be committed to that.

There are a lot of unseen elements to having a successful singing career.

Music is there to access those dark emotional corners that we don’t normally get too close to.

I don’t think I have ever met a single person who isn’t moved by music of some kind.

I don’t just come from a musical family, but from a musical community.

Nobody inspired me more than Julie Andrews, who is a classically trained soprano herself.

Opera is credible drama now, and it costs less than going to a football match. What have you got to lose?

To tell you the truth, I never listen to opera at home.

One of the problems that we face through the media attention that these artists receive is that there has been an awful lot of talk about opera and classical music being elite and being for an elitist group.