It's 2 a.m. and far too hot for late October in New York. The humidity here is horrible and particularly bad right now. Tonight was the fourth performance of Norma and it went very well indeed. Performance days are pretty much the same routine for me, whatever the opera I am singing. Part of that is normal preparation like warming up the voice; the rest is little more than superstitions I have accumulated, though I always deny I am superstitious.

I slept late until the phone woke me at 11:30 a.m. As the performance tonight was at 7:30 instead of the usual 8, it was just as well I didn't sleep any longer. I don't start singing straight away, but just need to get the blood flowing by being awake for a while. If I have to sing a 1:30 matinee performance, I try to get up around 6 a.m., which is difficult but necessary. The Metropolitan Opera typically has its live radio broadcasts on Saturday afternoons, so it makes it doubly important to be well warmed up for those.

Singers can usually tell the state of their voice without singing a note. They are so tuned into their bodies that any slightly different feeling in their noses or throats is very obvious to them, so I felt that all was well today, and I didn't need to worry about the voice and start warming it up too early. Many singers refer to their voices in the third person as "the" voice, because in many ways it is like something inside you but still separate from you. "The" voice suggests this "other" entity you need to be in control of, almost like the naughty child the voice often is!

I ate oatmeal for breakfast, which is a good start to a performing day. I like to eat little and often, so that my energy levels are in good shape in the evening. I dealt with e-mails and talked to my manager too. My manager is also my best friend from college days, and it is so wonderful to be looked after by someone who actually cares about me and doesn't just want to make money out of me, as is some agents' only aim. There is always a lot that need to be dealt with: travel agents, accountants, publicists, opera companies. I looked up some hotels on the Internet for some upcoming concerts and tried to think about what I will want to do in 2005. My diary is pretty full until 2005, and sometimes it seems odd to be planning things so far away, but they creep up before you know it, and we have to plan a schedule so that there are breaks for a vacation or just time to learn new music.

I sing a scale sporadically during the day to start waking my voice up, but my real warm-up starts with my shower. I have a tape I have listened to before every performance I have done for around 10 years. Actually this is about the third tape, as I have to make a new one when the old tape gives up the ghost. It started out as music I just liked to listen to but is now a set program. The tape consists of "Anything for Love" by Meatloaf; four Whitney Houston songs, including "I Will Always Love You"; "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler; and "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" by Meatloaf. I sing along to bits of these, always the same bits, and otherwise just listen and get in the mood for performing. The Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler songs were written by Jim Steinman, who also wrote both of Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell albums and is an incredible rock composer in my opinion. I was lucky enough to meet him after a performance of Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner at the Met and was not too surprised to find out he is a Wagner fan. He told me that he would listen to Little Richard and Wagner one after the other and never thought it was weird to enjoy such different types of music back-to-back. I have always felt the same way and usually relax to rock music. Maybe one day I'll record some pop album under a false name!

I go into the theater about an hour and a half before the show starts and have my make-up done and hair pinned up to go under the wig. The costumes are long and heavy with big velvet cloaks, always too warm under the stage lights.

Norma is about a druid priestess who has broken her vows and has two children by the enemy Roman proconsul. She finds out he has been having an affair with a novice priestess and threatens to have her killed. At the last minute, she realizes she cannot accuse someone of a crime she herself is guilty of and sacrifices herself. The father of her children is so moved by her dignity he joins her in death. The opera goes much deeper into the characters than some, especially that of Norma herself, and she is onstage for all but 35 minutes of the three hours. It's a wonderful role to sing and act, and I do enjoy it a lot. I felt well tonight and particularly enjoyed the duet I have with the Roman proconsul, threatening him and pointing a knife at him. Richard Margison sings this role and is a wonderful colleague to work with, as well as a great singer. Everything went as it should tonight, which is always a relief. I have been in performances where sets fell, curtains came in early, and once I was even kneed between the legs to get me off a high note when the other singer was not happy with the sound he was making, but that is rare!

After the show there were some people waiting for autographs, which is always nice, and some flowers from some fans. I always feel that as long as you have made some people happy, then you have done your job. You will never please everyone; singing is very subjective and there is nothing you can do about it. You can only do your best and hope that you have entertained at least part of the audience.

A group of us, including Richard and the conductor Carlo Rizzi, then went out for a drink and something to eat, which was a nice way of winding down. A Cosmopolitan and a Caesar salad later, I was feeling mellow and relaxed and ready for bed.