Montserrat Concepción Bibiana Caballé i Folch (Barcelona, Spain, 12 April 1933) is a Spanish operatic soprano. Although she sang a wide variety of roles, she is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi.
Early life and career
Caballé was born in
Barcelona and studied music at the
Liceu Conservatory, and singing technique with Napoleone Annovazzi, Eugenia Kemény and
Conchita Badía. She graduated with a gold medal in 1954. She subsequently moved to
Basel, Switzerland, where she made her professional debut in 1956 as Mimì in
La bohème. She became part of the
Basel Opera company between 1957 and 1959, singing a repertoire that included
Mozart (Erste Dame in
The Magic Flute) and
Strauss (
Salome) in German, unusual for Spanish singers, but which proved useful for her next engagement at the
Bremen Opera (1959–1962). In 1962, Caballé returned to Barcelona and debuted at the
Liceu, singing the title role in Strauss's
Arabella. From the fall of 1962 through the spring of 1963 she toured Mexico, at one point singing the title role in
Jules Massenet's
Manon at the
Palacio de Bellas Artes. This was followed by several more successful appearances at the Liceu in 1963. While this was her first engagement in a bel canto opera and she had to learn the role in less than one month, her performance made her famous throughout the opera world. Later that year, Caballé made her debut at
Glyndebourne singing her first Marschallin in
Richard Strauss's
Der Rosenkavalier and portraying the role of Countess Almaviva in
Mozart's
Le nozze di Figaro. and her Italian debut at the
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in
Trovatore (and
Pirata in 1967). She returned to Philadelphia in 1967 to sing the title roles in
Tosca and
Madama Butterfly The last role in particular garnered her further acclaim among American critics and audiences.
Having lost some of her earlier brilliance and purity of voice, Caballé made up for it finding a more dramatic utterance and expressive singing in roles that demanded it. Thus, in 1978, she sang Tosca in San Francisco with Pavarotti, Norma in Madrid, and Adriana Lecouvreur at the Met opposite José Carreras.
Caballé married the tenor Bernabé Martí in 1964. Her daughter, Montserrat Martí (Montsita), is also a soprano. The two
occasionally perform together.
Caballé has recorded extensively throughout her long career and has made many notable recordings of complete operas as well as recital albums, most notably on the RCA Red Seal label.
Caballé is known affectionately in the opera world as La Superba, a sign that she has reached the status of diva.
References
External links
Official website (in English and German)
Trailer of "Caballé Beyond Music", 98 min docufilm
Montserrat Caballé fan site (Unofficial)
Montserrat Caballé - in German
Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks
Caballé in the Fundación Príncipe de Asturias webpage
Category:1933 births
Category:Living people
Category:Catalan opera singers
Category:Spanish female singers
Category:Spanish opera singers
Category:Spanish sopranos
Category:Grammy Award winners
Category:Latin Grammy Award winners
Category:Operatic sopranos
Category:Alumni of the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu
Category:Singers from Barcelona
![Morre a atriz Dirce Migliaccio, a Emília do Sítio do Picapau Amarelo [Jornal Hoje]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110425120628im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NWoFnbJtDww/0.jpg "Morre a atriz Dirce Migliaccio, a Emília do Sítio do Picapau Amarelo [Jornal Hoje]")
