Montserrat Caballé
Oh, the purity of Montserrat Caballé's vocal line! It can be found, miraculously, in even her oldest recordings, such as her splendid 1967 Traviata, recorded at Rome under the personal direction of Georges Prêtre. La Caballé was thirty-two when she set down this legendary version alongside one radiant Carlo Bergonzi and Sherill Milnes, who was just starting out. The softness of her timbre, her incarnation of the role, her sublime flights (the Addio del passato [CD 2 Track 11, if you are playing it from Qobuz] without the habitual cuts is exquisite). With the young Caballé, emotion comes from the breath and the simplicity of the line taken from the bel canto tradition. But her long career contains plenty of other surprises.
Born into a very modest and pious family in Barcelona (her Christian name comes from the famous Black Madonna of Montserrat, patron of Catalonia), she was quickly noticed within the town's Conservatoire, where her precocious talent stunned and delighted. It was in Basel, where she spent two long seasons as an understudy while waiting for her moment, that she took her chance one day, standing in for a colleague who had dropped out. And the rest, as they say, is history. La Caballé had success after success and played a huge range of roles. In 1965 her Lucrezia Borgia by Donizetti set New York's Carnegie Hall ablaze, when she suddenly replaced the great Marilyn Horne. Thanks to her attention to detail and her exceptional vocal technique, Montserrat Caballé sang on all the great stages of the world, playing princesses and queens with an unfailing success. Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Spontini, Verdi, Puccini, but also Mozart, Gounod and Massenet are her favourite composers, loved by the whole world. At the end of her career, she even broke into the Wagner repertoire.
When the fashion swung towards svelte singers, disincarnate and the same age as the characters they played, her imposing physique could have seen her relegated from the stage; but her vocal presence was more imposing still. Her discographic career is immense and covers her whole repertoire. Her voice began to transform in the early 1980s: Montserrat Caballé put the emphasis on the dramatic and theatrical side of her performances, and diversified her repertoire, no longer hesitating to throw herself into crossovers, in particular with Freddie Mercury. She also had a lot of fun on stage, playing a hilarious Madama Cortese, in Rossini's Journey to Reims, under the direction of Claudio Abbado, at the Festival de Pesaro, a performance which remains famous to this day.
Despite poor health that plagued her from childhood, and persistent stage fright which led her to cancel several billings, Montserrat Caballé nonetheless led one of the 20th Century's finest careers. She can be found, intact, in this record with little miracles like the recording of Turandot under the direction of Zubin Mehta, where she plays an extremely fragile and moving Liù. Norma, to be sure, but also this Giovanna d'Arco, a little-known work by Verdi under the electric direction of James Levine. Her title "Queen of bel canto" has yet to be usurped.
© FH / Qobuz
Similar artists
-
Puccini: Turandot
Montserrat Caballé, Mirella Freni, José Carreras, Alain Lombard, Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Zarzuela Arias & Duets
Classical - Released by RCA Gold Seal on Nov 28, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Montserrat Caballé
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Aug 8, 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Island of Christianity: Armenia & Artsakh
Classical - Released by Starmus Universe on Dec 7, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classical World - Montserrat Caballé
Classical - Released by THEWEBENGINE on Mar 1, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Richard Strauss Song Recital
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on Apr 4, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Roses From 2000
Classical - Released by RCA Victor on May 17, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La Villana
Operettas - Released by RCA Records Label on Jul 17, 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cançó d'Amor i de Guerra
Operettas - Released by RCA Records Label on Oct 9, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Montserrat Caballé: Música Medieval y del Renacimiento Español Para Voz y Vihuela
Classical - Released by Iberautor on Aug 18, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ponchielli: La Gioconda
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bellissimo: French Opera
Opera - Released by Dynamic on Mar 26, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Montserrat Caballe
Opera - Released by Opera d'Oro on May 18, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Duetti Amorosi
José Carreras, Montserrat Caballé
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Sep 15, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Un Ballo In Maschera
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Unsere Weihnachtslieder
Montserrat Caballé, Montserrat Martí
Classical - Released by RCA Victor - Munich on Nov 18, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Montserrat Caballé "Live Performance"
Classical - Released by Bela Records on Jan 25, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Our Christmas Songs
Montserrat Caballé, Montserrat Martí
Classical - Released by RCA Victor - Munich on Nov 18, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
An Evening with Montserrat Caballé
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Manuel de Falla: Atlántida (Excerpts Sung in Italian) & Homenajes for Orchestra [Live] [Remastered 2022]
Classical - Released by Artemisia on Oct 7, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -