The story of opera diva Montserrat Caballé, whose thunderous talent enchanted even Freddie Mercury

Montserrat Caballé accumulates more than 120 roles in operas, more than 100 songs released and a dozen awards, including some Grammys. The singer not only knew the joy of being liked by the public, she also lived a happy life with her family. She has been married for over 50 years, and her husband has given up his own opera career in order to give himself completely to the family’s care.

On the last October 6, 2019 it has been exactly 1 year since this great singer left the earthly stages. we, from awesome.clubwe decided to honor her by preparing this post with the brightest facts from her biography.

The opera diva’s full name was María de Montserrat Viviana Concepción Caballé i Folch. It was named in honor of Our Lady of Monserrat. The singer was born on April 12, 1933 in Barcelona, ​​Spain, into a poor family of domestic servants and workers. At the age of 12 she began her studies at the Lyceum in Barcelona. To help her family out of poverty, as a girl she worked in a fabric factory and in a store. And she managed to take French and Italian lessons.

Caballé grew up listening to opera arias on records since he was a child. As she got older, she realized that she wanted to balance her life with music. Therefore, she entered the music conservatory in the class of Eugenia Kemény, who became her first teacher. The opera diva has repeatedly admitted that throughout her career she used Kemény’s breathing technique, which, by the way, could still boast of having successful swimmers on her resume.

In the final exams, the aspiring singer received the highest score. She was soon noticed by the philanthropist Beltran Mat, who was largely responsible for taking the young artist to the Opera in Florence. In 1956, she became a soloist at the Basel Opera, Switzerland. His debut was in a performance in the main part of the opera “La Bohème” by Giacomo Puccini. It was from this moment that she was born one of the biggest stars in music.

She began to be invited to sing in opera houses around the world, but her real world debut was on the Carnegie Hall stage in New York in 1965, where she was called in to replace the ailing Marilyn Horne. The success was resounding, the audience applauded the singer for 20 minutes and the critics classified her as insurmountable. An American newspaper wrote: “When Caballé sang his first aria […] something has changed in the atmosphere. For a second it felt like people stopped breathing […]” It is worth mentioning that, in the same year, Maria Callas had announced her retirement from the stage — and thus the opportunity arose for a new star to rise to occupy the position of opera diva.

She found the love of her life on stage, the opera singer Bernabé Martí. Montserrat played opposite her future husband in Madame Butterfly, in which she replaced Barnabas’ partner, who had fallen ill. In one scene Martí kissed the 31-year-old singer with such passion that she nearly fainted. The couple admitted more than once that, after the episode, they believed in love at first sight.

In 1964 the wedding was celebrated in a temple on the sacred mountain of Montserrat. However, on the day of the ceremony, heavy rain disrupted the plans and the car that was carrying the bride and mother got stuck and broke down halfway. An unknown driver was passing by and agreed to take them, and although the bride didn’t walk down the aisle in the most majestic fashion, the wedding was successful.

Subsequently, Barnabé and Montserrat sang more than once on the same stage, but a few years later the husband decided to end his career. According to some information, he had health problems, while other data states that he wanted to dedicate himself to his family. In 1966, the couple had the eldest son Barnabé (same name as his father) and, after 6 years, it was the turn of daughter Montserrat (same name as her mother), who, by the way, followed in her parents’ footsteps and several times shared the stage with the mother. Today, Montserrat Martí Caballé is one of Spain’s leading opera singers.

The opera diva’s resounding success and health problems such as weight gain did not interfere with family happiness. By the way, Caballé has always been slender, but in her youth she was in a serious car accident, which damaged the brain receptors responsible for lipid metabolism. “If I drink a glass of water, my body reacts as if I ate a big piece of cake.” Thus, throughout her life, the singer had to maintain a diet based on water, fruits and vegetables.

Montserrat Caballé was not limited to opera. Her extensive repertoire included rock, pop and even electronic music. For example, she has compositions with Greek artist Vangelis and duets with Johnny Hallyday and Lisa Nilsson. And in 1988, together with Freddie Mercury, she recorded the album Barcelona, ​​with the title song that they planned to perform at the 1992 Olympic Games in the singer’s homeland of Barcelona. However, a few months before Freddie died and his participation was recorded, it still thrilled the audience. By the way, the singer gave his partner a bottle of exclusive champagne, which she decided to open only at her daughter’s wedding in 2006.

The singer devoted a lot of time to charity. She was an honorary ambassador for the United Nations, a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and founder of a relief fund for sick children. Montserrat also attended a charity concert in Moscow, “World Stars for Children”, and celebrated its 60th anniversary with a grand concert in Paris, donating all profits to “The Foundation for AIDS Research”.

In 1992, the opera diva was diagnosed with cancer. Doctors told her she had 2 years to live and insisted that urgent surgical intervention was needed. However, Montserrat heard from her friend Luciano Pavarotti, who advised her to consult with other doctors to find a way to get rid of the disease without surgery. And she got it right.

In 2002, Caballé had another car accident and, as a consequence, had to adopt crutches and a wheelchair to get around. Ten years later, her health was once again seriously compromised: in 2012, the night before the charity concert in Yekaterinburg, Russia, she fell ill. Doctors diagnosed a micro stroke and a humerus fracture. The singer was transferred to Spain, where she continued her treatment. The heart of the great opera diva stopped on October 6, 2018 at a clinic in Barcelona, ​​where she was hospitalized. Montserrat Caballé was buried next to her parents in a cemetery in Barcelona.

Perhaps you have already attended a concert by this legendary singer? Tell us in the comments.