When did you start singing?
I star­ted singing when I was 12/13 years old. I was a tenor then…

Why did you start singing?
I star­ted singing because it felt so natural.

Which singer inspired you most when you were young?
Luciano Pavarotti.

Which singer do you most admire?
Thomas Hampson for his curi­os­ity and for his vast repertoire.

What’s your favour­ite role?
I don’t have a favour­ite role but if I have to choose I’d say Rossini’s Mao­metto II.

What role have you never played but would have liked to?
Fil­ippo II in Verdi’s Don Carlo.

What’s your favour­ite opera to watch?
Don Carlo and Otello.

Who is your favour­ite com­poser?
Giuseppe Verdi.

Who is your favour­ite writer?
Dan Brown. I thought The Da Vinci Code was brilliant.

Who is your favour­ite theatre or film dir­ector?
Clint Eastwood.

Who is your favour­ite actor?
Meryl Streep.

Who is your favour­ite dan­cer?
Pina Bausch.

What is your favour­ite book?
Umberto Eco “Il nome della Rosa”

What is your favour­ite film?
Gran Torino by Clint Eastwood.

Which is your favour­ite city?
New York.

What do you like most about your­self?
My abil­ity to laugh about myself.

What do you dis­like about your­self?
That I am a hypochondriac.

What was your proudest moment?
Singing Bach’s Can­tatas at the Musik­ver­ein with Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

When and where were you hap­pi­est?
Exper­i­en­cing a sun­set at the Grand Canyon

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My wife Catherine.

What is your greatest fear?
Hav­ing to rebuild my 450GB iTunes lib­rary… it took me years to rip all my CDs.

If you could change one thing about your­self, what would it be?
Not being afraid of flying.

What do you con­sider your greatest achieve­ment?
Hav­ing sung Mao­metto II at 7,000 feet above sea level.

What is your most treas­ured pos­ses­sion?
Lenny and Tristan.

What is your greatest extra­vag­ance?
Col­lect­ing foun­tain pens.

What do you con­sider the most over­rated vir­tue?
Get­ting up early… I don’t like mornings!!

On what occa­sion do you lie?
I am Italian… I always lie 😉

If you hadn’t been a singer what would you have liked to be?
A veterinarian.

What is your most marked char­ac­ter­istic?
I never shut up.

What qual­ity do you most value in a friend?
Flex­ib­il­ity to adjust to my crazy schedule.

What qual­ity do you most value in a col­league?
Being a little bit unpre­dict­able on stage.

Which his­tor­ical fig­ure do you most admire?
Abra­ham Lincoln.

Which liv­ing per­son do you most admire?
Bill Clinton.

What do you most dis­like?
Ignor­ant prejudice.

What tal­ent would you most like to have?
Being able to con­duct an orchestra.

What’s your idea of per­fect hap­pi­ness?
Walk­ing the dog­gies on a deser­ted beach.

How would you like to die?
At 38 I don’t really want to think about death…

What is your motto?
Fol­low your inner voice.