Montserrat Caballe

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Born: April 12, 1933 - Barcelona, Spain

Caballe Beginnings:

Montserrat began her studies at at a prominent school and college of music, Conservatorio del Liceo, in Barcelona with Eugenia Kenny and later studied with Napoleone Annovazzi and Conchita Badía. In 1956, Montserrat made her operatic debut in Basel, Switzerland, singing Mimi in Puccini's La Bohème. Her career defining breakthrough came in 1965, when she substituted for Marilyn Horne in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia at New York's Carnegie Hall.

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At the Height of Caballe's Career:

Since her performance in 1965, in Carnegie Hall, Montserrat quickly became one of the world's leading bel canto sopranos. Montserrat debuted at opera houses and concert halls all over the world, singing roles from Bellini to Verdi and Donizetti to Wagner. At the height of her career in 1974, Montserrat performed Aida, Vespri, Parisina d'Este, 3 Norma's in one week in Mosco, Adriana Lecouvreur, another Norma (her favorite performance) in Orange,

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The Age of Retirement:

Montserrat Caballe has never officially retired. At the age of 73, you can still find her on stage, albeit in far less performances, mostly in concert halls in Germany, singing recitals alone and with her daughter Montserrat Marti. Apart from opera, Caballe serves as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. She also created a foundation for the underprivileged children in Barcelona. Montserrat gives annual concerts and donates the proceeds to charities and foundations she supports.

Montserrat Caballe Personal Quotes

"You know the Phoenix? It's me."

"People talk about Callas's Norma, Caballé's Mimí, but what is important is Bellini's Norma and Puccini's Mimí."

"When I sing opera my voice is an instrument in the hands of the composer."

"I am only an interpreter, a tool in the realization of a masterpiece, and I have to be inspired by the music if I am to serve it well."

"Whenever I prepare a new role the first thing I do is take the score and read it as if it were a book. Then the music is immediately inside me."

"Before even beginning to sing, to receive an ovation like I get these days makes me tremble all over."

"I really didn't care if I got bad reports at school generally, but if I got a bad report for music it was awful; that was something I could never accept."

"You can sing without proper technique, you can even sing without a voice, but you can't sing without teeth!"

"I have sung many things with Luciano, and even more with José. But with Plácido I sang everything."

"When I am angry I am not a person who loses my temperament for everyone to see. Instead, I keep it bottled up inside me and somehow manage to channel it into my performance."

"You break the unwritten rules, you don't do something as it has always been done, and a conductor who cannot follow a musical personality at this level will automatically say that this person is unmusical and difficult."

"I am named after the Virgen de Montserrat. I am Maria."

"I never thought I would marry. I had always worked. I felt like an old woman inside. I was used to the idea that this was how it would always be. And then, when I met Bernabé, my life changed. Suddenly I knew who I was and what I wanted."

"I am not now nor have I ever been a diva... I am only Montserrat!"

"I have always made impresarios a lot of money across my career and have never, so far as I am aware, given any of them heart attacks."

"Drama if I sing, drama if I don't sing. What do you do?"

"When a singer truly feels and experiences what the music is all about, the words will automatically ring true."

"The moment you say, 'Please, give me a reason for this', then you are being impossible and temperamental."

In March 1987 Freddie flew to Barcelona to meet Montserrat Caballé.

He gave her a cassette with two or four songs. The Spanish opera diva liked these songs and even performed one of them at London's Covent Garden. Freddie was delighted. In early April, Freddie began work on the album he agreed to record with Montserrat Caballé.

At the end of May the island of Ibiza staged a huge festival at the outrageous Ku Club. Freddie agreed to be a guest of honour and closed the event with Montserrat Caballé singing the song he had written for her and her home city, Barcelona.

On October 8th, 1988 Freddie and Montserrat appeared at the huge open air La Nit festival in Barcelona.

They performed three tracks from their forthcoming album - How Can I Go On, The Golden Boy, and Barcelona, accompanied by Mike Moran on piano.

The long-awaited album, Barcelona, finally come out on October 10th.