You put it in your melting pot of your emotions or whatever you want to say. You do your work at home. And then, I think, you go out and, for want of a better way of putting it, expose yourself musically. You really put your feelings on the line, your emotions on the line, as to how the poetry or how the music has touched you. And you share that with how many people want to accept it or want to be there.
Study usually begins with the words.
I always write my words out in a book, translating if necessary, so I can see the poem as it is, rather than as it appears on the page of music. In opera, the recitatives come first, and although she has tried throughout her career to learn the finales first, she never does. I always start at the beginning, instead of learning the big ensembles first. I always want to be able to know how far I've got. Then you can feel the atmosphere of the melody to go with the music.