But I have always had guilt feelings about surpassing his achievements, and achieving something that he was actually entitled to. I greatly hope that I don't pass these emotions on to my son. Guilt is also something that others force upon one. My divorce from my first wife was like that - my relationship with my very strong mother, whose intense love was almost crushing, has something to do with it. Guilt is a projection of Society on the individual, in order to control it.
Guilt is a feeling that arises when breaking contracts, with cancellations.
Guilt, however, above all, a sense of inferiority resulting from the apparent failure when one doesn't mean to satisfy the expectations one has aroused. I always led my career, like my life, very personally, certainly differently than other singers. And I cannot simply sing if my emotions aren't flowing. With the death of my mother, and especially during the long period of my divorce, my throat was often tied in knots. I remember one Werther at the Met with Kathleen Kuhlmann as Charlotte, when at the end of the second act, in the church scene, I could no longer easily sing all those words about separation.