On Anna Bolena

“It’s like nothing I’ve ever done before! You’re practically shouting in the lower register for half the opera. [Donizetti] wants that nasty, chesty voice — he wants it to sound uncomfortable!”

“It’s asking so much of the nerves, the body, the emotion. There’s so much hatred! I never thought I could be so angry.”

On “Manca solo a compire il delitto” when she sings B-flat below middle C

“It’s too much! Too hard on my voice at that point,” she exclaimed.

On mezzo-soprano Giovanna (Jane Seymour)

“She is my friend, and she has betrayed me. Suddenly I hate her! But it’s a beautiful hatred.”

On smiling during her applause

“Oh, you saw it? I shouldn’t do that? I was just smiling to the maestro (conductor Marco Armiliato). My way of saying, ‘We did it!'”

and Armiliato’s comment?

“We had our little moment. Actually, I found it cute. I mean, she’s a great diva, a superstar — but don’t forget, she’s human!”

via The Republic