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We're always making changes inside, and outside, the house, but one key thing Gus has done since I've been around is build me a dressing room. I have an awful lot of clothes. Lots of them are gorgeous, beautifully structured gowns I've been given or lent by collections and archives, which makes me a pretty lucky girl. I adore Vivienne Westwood who comes to watch my shows a lot and whose clothes are incredibly elegant, while being as comfortable to wear as pyjamas.

The schoolchildren I talk to about being a lyric soprano usually say I look more like a pop star than an opera singer. That's very flattering, and I'll also use it to my advantage to try to persuade them that opera is cooler than they imagine.

I have to admit that a lot of hard work goes on in opera beyond the gorgeous clothes, though. You really need Olympian-sized ambition to succeed and if I am in a show at the weekend, as I am now, then everything in my life revolves around that. I've been working on this role for more than a year, diving into the opera's history, translating the words and working out my approach to the character of Norina, and I'm performing it two or three times a week until August 24.

When the curtains come down after a show, I have so much adrenalin left that it takes me hours to get to sleep, and sometimes I lie awake until 3 or 4am. So if I have a performance in the evening I'll probably sleep until at least noon, if not 1pm or 2pm. Then I'll have breakfast and prepare everything I need for the theatre, like my dressing gowns and the water and teas I drink to help keep properly hydrated. I also have a big spoonful of Sussex honey made by the bees that some friends of ours own, just down the road. By 3.30pm I'm in the theatre getting my hair and make-up done and I always find a moment to be alone on the stage before a performance. I really treasure that time of calm before all the energy and action piles in.

This sort of routine is something I'm very used to now as I've been singing and performing since I was four. My mum taught me everything that makes me original as an artist: she is the most musical person I know. She and my father still come over from Australia, where I grew up [they are originally from Sri Lanka], to attend all my premieres and I value advice from them more than anyone else because they know me best and always have my interests at heart.

I have to take good care of myself if I'm going to be able to keep doing this job for at least the next 30 years, as I plan to. A voice is an incredibly frail and irreplaceable thing, for one, but some of the shows we do are very aerobic too and no one wants to see you huffing and puffing.

I keep fit by going to the gym and by walking Caesar, our Portuguese water dog. He's actually related to the Obamas' dog, Bo, and he's quite delicious. Gus and I love walking him in the bluebell wood or around the grounds together – in fact, I recently went on a girl's holiday to New Orleans and found myself suggesting we all got out of the city to go and see some nature.

That's definitely Gus's influence, and Glyndebourne's too. It's a completely enchanting place all the time, but in winter, when all the crowds have gone, it is just magical. That was when we chose to get married. We woke up on our wedding day to the first snowfall of the year which was completely unexpected, and it was so splendid that we both jumped into our clothes immediately to go and take pictures.

Very soon after the festival finishes I leave for New York to sing in Così fan tutte, so Gus and I have a while to wait before it's just the two of us at Glyndebourne again, but I'm already looking forward to it.

IN SHORT

Herbal tea or stiff drink?

Herbal tea

Which role would you most like to play?

Susanna in the Marriage of Figaro

Plan B career?

I would love to have been an Olympic figure skater

Last meal?

My mother's food, which is Sri Lankan with a twist. She hates cooking so she's very annoyed that she's so amazing at it

Favourite item of clothing?

All of the Donna Karan and Vivienne Westwood stuff I wear

Who do you most admire?

My mum, for everything, but especially for the way she has taught me to be the human that I am

FIVE FAVOURITE THINGS

My family

My husband

My dog

Music

Giving

Limited tickets for Don Pasquale are still available for August 16. To book visit glyndebourne.com.

Danielle's latest album, Beauty of the Baroque (Decca), is available on amazon.com