Roger Allam Quotes

Above all, I am an opera singer. This is how people will remember me.

I'd love to have the time to learn to sing opera properly rather than bellowing half-formed fragments of melody in exuberant moments.

To sing opera, one needs two things: the voice and the passion - and above all, the passion.

I originally wanted to be an opera singer. I studied classical voice at the University of Washington but soon realised I didn't have the instrument or the discipline. The road for opera singers is more difficult than for actors.

In the piano, one has the instrument complete before he begins; but in the case of the voice, the instrument has to be developed by study.

Don't ever take a dramatic lesson. They will try to put your voice in a dinner jacket, and people like their hominy and grits in everyday clothes.

To sing along with Stevie Wonder, you had to make your voice do things it was not accustomed to doing.

I could read music and sing all the right notes at the right time. And over time, I literally found my voice, found a way to make sound.

I love to sing and I do think that my strength as a singer is... I think I have a voice that is certainly sufficient under most any circumstances... but I think my strength is that I really am an actor and I really do have to own what I am saying.

I do love to sing. Had I a longer set of thigh bones and a sweeter voice, I should have loved to be a performer.

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.

I have sung, but I haven't sung in any way that I would ever call myself 'a singer.'

Lots of opera singers are just boring.

You have to contort your body in a certain way to hit a low note. When you're on film, you can't. So you do, in a sense, get to hide behind your voice, which is nice.

I've never taken vocal lessons. My early trumpet training and a fortunate talent for singing has always been enough for me. In the case of rock singing, I've always felt it was better to remain a bit untrained to maintain your individuality.

I don't feel like singing should be taken lightly. It's one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it's coming along.

When an opera star sings her head off, she usually improves her appearance.

As long as I can sing halfway decent, I'd rather sing than act. There's nothing like being in good voice, feeling good, having good numbers to do and having a fine orchestra.

As a singer, the biggest joy I have are the arrangements.

First, I try to take everything away that doesn't matter to singing. It sounds simplistic, but it works. There is absolute focus on singing: producing sounds and emotions that I have always enjoyed. This is key.

I've studied classical singing, but not to a great extent.

Good singing is learning how to transmit learning musical information with your voice in a way that everybody can relate to. But as a woman you just get a lot of criticism because everyone sees you like a raw lump of clay that needs some help.

My father was a very popular singer and stage actor during his time, in the 1950s. But he didn't take any formal lessons in music, which was probably why he insisted I study music so I could get a proper base and build a strong career in it.

I do a lot of vocal warmups, which are the same warmups I did when I was a kid, because I had a few classical singing lessons and stuff like that, so I know pretty much how I'm gonna be once I get on stage.

I have so much respect for the big opera singers that I never dare to say I'm a singer.