"I am Sicilian, and I was born in a place where the troubadours sang as much as they talked. The story always moved me more than the music, but I became a singer rather than an actor because my best way of delivering words is with music...you shouldn't be moved just by the high notes, you should be able to be moved just as much by the low notes. Not many singers have this kind of expressiveness. My great Maria Callas had it, and so also did Nat King Cole and currently Barbara Streisand. They are beautiful singers. They put so much feeling into the words, so much elegance and musicality. Very seldom does this happen in opera, because they are so preoccupied with sound".