If you don't have the possibility of listening to music, you can't know if you love it.
The themes I sing about tend to be centered on love, but in the most total, general way 360 degrees of love.
I think I don't want to use drugs or medicine, so nothing. The only way is to go on stage and to hope.
I am not only fighting against something, I am fighting for something - and I am for life.
I was overcome with happiness, love, and tenderness ... Right after he was washed, I studied him with my hands: his downy little head, his little nose, everything on the tiny body.
Let me say that I've never thought to conduct because the conductor has to think to the music before the orchestra. And the orchestra comes later. For me, it's terrible.
It's important for me who is at the table with me; the moment when everyone speaks to each other and everyone listens. If there's good food, it's much better.
Listen to what others tell you about your voice. If you're only singing to please yourself, you might as well just sing under the shower. But if you're singing for others, you are reliant on them to ask you to sing.
I don't like crying. I'm a country boy, and we're the product of our upbringing. As a boy, I was told that men don't cry.
I've always known that I was born to sing, ever since I was a child.
It's true that I suffered a lot, especially when I was younger.
I've always been on the side of science that tries to help man. I play an active part with the foundations I'm involved in. Science gives hope.
It's always beautiful to sing with other great voices. I like voices in general. It's a big privilege to have great singers next to me.
I'm quite shy, so I hate seeing my private life splashed over the papers.
I don't like being called 'macho.' Macho basically means stupid and a real Italian man is not macho, he's smart. That's smart in both senses: elegant and clever.
I loved riding bikes and horses. I was eight when I started having lessons, and when my father bought me my own horse I couldn't wait to go off on my own.
'Passione' is a selection of the music moments that have accompanied my youth; a collection of cherished memories, of moments, of fleeting emotions, of sleepless nights.
I'm most impressed by the Russian writers, so I love reading the works of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Another author who has informed the way I think is the French philosopher, Blaise Pascal.
I am a product of my native land, Tuscany, Italy.
In singing, you cannot 'cheat' if you want to give emotions to those who are listening. You must have something to tell.
Now I'm more sure and I feel myself more comfortable singing.
Like stars across the sky, we were born to shine.
Opera singing is in every way of inestimable value; a real heritage for all mankind that has been reached over centuries of studies, attempts, flights of the spirit.
The feeling of an evolution is a constant for every artist who is pursuing the search of refinement and enlargement of his/her own means of expression.
My real passion is for opera. It was born and developed by listening to records, and my dream as a child was to record entire operas when I grew up, and this dream came true.
It's always beautiful to sing with other great voices. I like voices in general. It's a big privilege to have great singers next to me.
I loved riding bikes and horses. I was eight when I started having lessons, and when my father bought me my own horse I couldn't wait to go off on my own.
In essence, I set myself the objective of doing what I feel is right without having any ambition.
I have always tried to perform the music I love, and I think I am lucky because my preferences are often the ones of the public.
In singing, you cannot 'cheat' if you want to give emotions to those who are listening. You must have something to tell.
I like very much to ride horses. I like soccer, I have had a passion for boxing since I was a child, although it would be stupid for me to box.
To sing a song is like whispering to a child's ear. It is an art heavily relying on improvisation.
I started as a lyrical singer. But it was through the pop universe that I reached international fame.
When I began singing, it was the first time I was happy in my life. As a baby, I would stop crying when I heard a great singer.
Living is dangerous. The important thing is to know the limits.
I've always been on the side of science that tries to help man. I play an active part with the foundations I'm involved in. Science gives hope.
The voice changes very slowly. I keep mine well under control and try with all my might to keep it exactly as it was at the very beginning.
I know that my passion is for opera, but sometimes I like also to sing songs, because there are many beautiful melodies.
While they are kids, my children must do as I say.
It is the uninvolved parent who has to resort to strictness.
I live for my children, so my number one rule is I won't go away from home for more than two weeks.
I have always felt an excellent rapport ever since my very first concert in Britain at Hampton Court. I have always felt understood. The British understand opera very well.
A positive frame of mind will definitely enhance your travelling experience. If I'm not in a positive frame of mind then the whole thing definitely becomes more of a challenge for me.
I do not think anyone can ever do anything without the help and will of God.
It is not Christian to go against someone. I am in favour of life.
When the mood takes me, I like to be a man of action. I like to windsurf and ski, and most of all I love to ride horses. The wilder and faster the better!
People wonder if there is a relationship between my lack of sight and the way I sing. But there's no connection.
I try to find some time for my horses. I began when I was a child, because I was born and grew up in a little village. And many people ride the horses. So, it was a big - it has been a big passion for me.
I change the language with which I use my voice. In opera, I know I have an orchestra behind me; I have to communicate to people very far from me.
I have to face life with a newly found passion. I must rediscover the irresistible will to learn, to live and to love.
I'm a country boy, and we're the product of our upbringing. As a boy, I was told that men don't cry.
I don't like being called 'macho.' Macho basically means stupid and a real Italian man is not macho, he's smart. That's smart in both senses: elegant and clever.
I'm most impressed by the Russian writers, so I love reading the works of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Another author who has informed the way I think is the French philosopher, Blaise Pascal.
I like reading... French, Russian classics - Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Flaubert. I also like Hemingway, Virginia Woolf.
Every audience has its character; I like America - they love me. I suffer from stage fright, but in America not so much.
My idol has been Franco Corelli. But every singer can teach you something.
The world is full of many beautiful voices; I will perform with many of them. I love women's voices.
I respect very much my public and also the music I perform.
I have a European frame of mind and Europe is my home.
Naturally, women are drawn to a man who understands the subtlety of emotions, and they know I'm a passionate man. But the reason I try to keep myself in shape is so I can sing better, not to look good.
My style in Italian is very old-style.
Very often, I recognize many, many defects, so I try to improve myself every day. I think my voice is very communicative.
I want to have time for myself, my family and my friends. It's important because in order to sing well, you must have inspiration, and inspiration comes from life, from living.
I speak to God every day.
A love song must respect the canons of music beauty, entering the fibers of those who are listening. It must make them dream and pleasantly introduce them to the universe of love.
When a little more than a teenager, I was a piano-bar pianist in the land where I was born and raised, Tuscany.
Stage fright is my worst problem.
I have had the good fortune of being able to sing with many of the finest voices in the world, and for someone who loves voices as I do, this is an enormous privilege.
Let me say that I've never thought to conduct because the conductor has to think to the music before the orchestra. And the orchestra comes later. For me, it's terrible.
When I was very young, I started trying to sing like the great tenor Mario Lanza; my family used to play his records. We all learn best by imitating others.
I consider the voice a gift from the heavens, and as all the gifts from the heavens, they must be used, but the minute that the heavens call it back then of course I will stop.
The activity of a singer that sings opera is similar to that of an athlete.
When I sing for myself, I sing in a more free, athletic way. When I face an audience, there is always some fear that makes me put the brakes on a bit.
Because I practice often with my children at home.
Because, in opera, I have to sing for people that are very far from me, instead of, when I sing a song, I try to imagine to sing like in an ear of a child.
I began when I was a child, because I was born and grew up in a little village. And many people ride the horses. So, it was a big - it has been a big passion for me.
I have big, big stage fright.
I think I don't want to use drugs or medicine, so nothing. The only way is to go on stage and to hope.
I've always known that I was born to sing, ever since I was a child.
Now I'm more sure and I feel myself more comfortable singing.
Often, I went in love with some friends in school. And, no, I suffered. Only later, things went better.
When you sing and people want that you sing, then you can hope to be great.
Success is related to faith. Faith comes first.
I prefer to work for my country in a free and independent way. I was born free, and I want to die free. I am always suspicious of ideology. Instead, I respect men with ideas.
More people are listening to opera, and I'm happy - everybody must be given that opportunity.
It's true that I suffered a lot, especially when I was younger.
You can be great only if it is your destiny.
An opera singer is like an athlete before a match. An athlete cannot overdo anything. In order to perform at the highest possible level, you need to refrain from activities so as to be able to express this power.
The most widely criticised singers in the history of opera, Maria Callas and Franco Corelli, happen also to be the best singers. I am honoured for being part of their group.
Criticism in good faith is good. When it's targeted solely to destruction, I'm not interested.
I'm quite shy, so I hate seeing my private life splashed over the papers.
I love eating shabu-shabu in Japan - a kind of beef hotpot. But if you're talking about authentic, traditional food, then Italian cooking is one of the best in the world.
Some years ago I gave a concert in the mountains with snow all around, and that was much colder.
Music is an art that goes well beyond science. Proof can be found in the huge amount of studies that have been carried out throughout the world based on music-therapy and the important results achieved.
I loved playing football. In this particular match the ball happened to hit my right eye, the only one which I could see light and colour with.
I did a pop album, 'Sogno,' in 1999. I think it's important to record another pop album because many people love pop music. By this kind of repertoire, some people can later discover classical music.
I studied to be a lawyer, and after that I did something, obviously, completely different. With change, you learn something. If you do the same thing over and over again, you never learn anything.
In my iPod, there are many operas, from A to Z. I have 'Aida' and 'Boheme' and 'Butterfly' and 'Cavalleria'. My passion is for opera, but when I'm in the car, I listen to everything.
I have trouble with modern art. But in general, all art forms fascinate me - art is the way human beings express what we can't say in words.
You have to have great passion, because to sing operatic music requires lots of work. I study for at least two hours every day. The voice is like an instrument and requires constant exercise.
What is beautiful enchants me. I mean not just physical beauty but a wider concept of beauty. There is beauty in poetry and in great musical or singing performances. There is beauty everywhere if you can just see it.
I was an agnostic until I realized that I had to choose between God and fate. The idea that humanity and nature are the result of fate was not convincing at all. I find the presence of God everywhere.
To sing opera, one needs two things: the voice and the passion - and above all, the passion.
