From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Montserrat Caballe
(12 April 1933 – 6 October 2018) was a Spanish (
Catalan
) operatic
soprano
. She was one of the greatest
opera
singers of the 20th century. She sang a wide variety of roles. She was particularly associated with the
bel canto
repertoire in which she was considered one of the finest modern examples. She had a voice of great range.
Caballe was born in
Barcelona
,
Spain
. She studied at the Music Conservatory there and graduated in 1954 with a gold medal. She began her professional career in
Basel
in 1956 as Mimi in
La boheme
. She then joined the
Bremen
Opera. She sang from 1959 to 1962 in a wide variety of roles.
International recognition came in 1965, when she appeared in a concert performance of
Donizetti
's
Lucrezia Borgia
at
Carnegie Hall
in
New York City
as a replacement for an indisposed Marilyn Horne. The performance won her great acclaim from the public and critics alike, and it made her an overnight sensation. Her success led to her first performance at the
Metropolitan Opera
that same year as Marguerite in
Gounod
's
Faust
.
She was later invited to sing at most of the major opera houses and festivals of the world. She was especially admired in works by composers such as
Rossini
,
Donizetti
,
Bellini
and
Verdi
. She revived a number of long-neglected works by these composers.
In 1987, she duetted with
Queen
frontman
Freddie Mercury
for the hit single
Barcelona
. That single became a hit again in 1992 during the Olympics that were being held there.
From 1964 until her death, she was married to tenor
Bernabe Marti
. They had two children.
Caballe died on 6 October 2018 at the age of 85 from a
gallbladder
infection in
Barcelona
.
[1]
- The Complete Dictionary of Opera & Operetta
, James Anderson, Wings Books, 1993.
- Le Guide de l'Opera
, Roland Mancini & Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, Fayard, 1986.