Childhood and youth
On April 12, 1933, a girl was born in Barcelona, who was given the name Montserrat Caballe. You can hardly pronounce her full name without practice - Maria de Montserrat Viviana Concepcion Caballe y Folk. Her parents named her in honor of the sacred mountain of St. Mary of Montserrat.
Montserrat Caballe in childhood and youth
In the future, she was destined to become the greatest opera singer, who was given the unofficial status of “Unsurpassed”. The baby was born into a poor family of a chemical plant worker and a housekeeper. The mother of the future singer was forced to earn extra money wherever she had to. Since childhood, Montserrat has been partial to music; she spent hours listening to opera arias on records. At the age of 12, the girl entered the Barcelona Lyceum, where she studied until her 24th birthday.
Since money was poor in the family, Montserrat helped her parents, working first in a weaving factory, then in a store and in a sewing workshop. In parallel with receiving an education and earning additional income, the girl took French and Italian lessons.
Montserrat Caballe in his youth
She studied for 4 years at the Liceo Conservatory in the class of Eugenia Kemmeni. A Hungarian by nationality, a former champion swimmer, singer, Kemmeni developed her own breathing system, the basis of which was strengthening the muscles of the torso and diaphragm. Until now, Montserrat uses her teacher’s breathing exercises and her chants.
Biography
We must admit that the biography of the singer is quite interesting. Her full name is very long - Maria de Montserrat Vivianna Concepcion Caballe y Volk. As soon as she started performing on stage, the girl replaced her long name with a shorter and more memorable one.
Montserrat Caballe was born in the difficult thirties into a poor working-class family. Her life in her youth cannot be envied. They didn’t live well: their father worked at a factory that produced chemical fertilizers, and their mother worked part-time in a variety of places. In addition to the daughter, there were also boys in the family.
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The girl grew up gloomy and withdrawn, had little contact with her peers, and art became her only outlet.
With the help of family friends - wealthy patrons of the arts - young Montserrat managed to get a job at the local conservatory. As she grew older, she began performing in Barcelona's best theaters and leading concert venues. Her charming voice quickly brought her to the first roles in the theater, and they began to give her many solo roles.
In the seventies, the popularity of Montserrat Caballe in Spain, Italy, and throughout the world reached unprecedented, cosmic heights. The fees quickly made her rich, and aspiring singers were ready to tear each other to pieces for the opportunity to perform a duet with her.
The singer was awarded many orders and medals, for example:
- Order of Friendship (from the government of the Russian Federation).
- Order of Arts and Letters (from the French government).
- Order of Princess Olga (from the government of Ukraine).
This list is far from complete. In total, the singer has about ten different awards and titles.
The great opera diva also had some problems with the law: in particular, she was tried for fraud (tax evasion) in her home country. In court, the singer admitted her guilt, and, most likely, she will have to serve a suspended sentence (after all, the woman is over eighty years old). The opera actress may also have to pay a large fine to the state.
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Montserrat Caballe was married and has two children. It is interesting that her daughter Montserrat followed in her mother’s footsteps in choosing her life path: she is also a popular opera singer in her native Spain.
Music
Having received the highest score in her final exams, the girl begins her professional career. The patronage of the famous philanthropist Beltran Mata helped the young girl get into the troupe of the Basel Opera House. Young Montserrat made her debut performing the title role in the opera La bohème by Giacomo Puccini.
The young artist began to be invited to opera groups in other European cities: Milan, Vienna, Lisbon, and her native Barcelona. Montserrat masters the musical language of romantic, classical and baroque operas. But she is especially successful in parts from works by Bellini and Donizetti, in which all the power and beauty of her voice is revealed.
Montserrat Caballe - “Ave Maria”
By 1965, the Spanish singer was already known outside her homeland, but world success came to her after performing the role of Lucrezia Borgia in the American opera Carnegie Hall, when Montserrat Caballe had to replace another star of the classical stage, Marilyn Horne.
After the performance, the audience did not let the main character of the evening leave the stage for about half an hour. It is noteworthy that just this year the solo career of the opera diva Maria Callas ended. Thus, the predecessor, as it were, handed over the palm to Montserrat Caballe as the best soprano in the world.
Montserrat Caballe and Maria Callas
The next peak in the singer’s creative biography was her role in Bellini’s opera Norma. This part appeared in the Montserrat repertoire in 1970. The premiere of the play took place at the La Scala theater, and four years later the Italian ensemble came on tour to Moscow. For the first time, Soviet listeners could enjoy the sound of the voice of the talented Spaniard, who shone so much in the aria “Norma”. In addition, the singer performed on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in leading roles in the operas Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Othello, Louise Miller, and Aida.
During her career, Montserrat Caballe managed to collaborate with orchestras of such star conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta, James Levine. Her stage partners were the best tenors in the world: Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. Montserrat was friends with Elena Obraztsova and Marilyn Horne.
Montserrat Caballe on stage at La Scala
In addition to the leading opera stages of the world, the Spaniard performed in the Great Hall of Columns of the Kremlin, the White House in the USA, in the UN Auditorium and even in the Hall of the People, which is located in the capital of the People's Republic of China. Throughout her creative life, the great artist sang in more than 120 operas, and hundreds of discs were released with her participation. In 1976, at the 18th Grammy Awards, Caballe was awarded the award for performing best classical vocal solo.
Montserrat Caballe is fascinated not only by the art of opera. She tries herself in other projects. The opera diva first performed with rock star Freddie Mercury, leader of the Queen musical group, in the late 80s. Together they recorded songs for the album “Barcelona”.
Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe - Barcelona
The composition of the same name was performed by the famous duet at the 1992 Olympic Games, which took place in Catalonia. The hit broke all world chart records and became the anthem not only of the Olympics, but also of the entire autonomous community of Spain.
In the late 90s, Montserrat Caballe recorded with the rock band Gotthard from Switzerland, and also gave a joint performance with Italian pop singer Al Bano in Milan. In addition, the singer is experimenting with electronic music: the woman is recording compositions with the Greek author Vangelis, who is one of the creators of the new New Age style.
Montserrat Caballe and Nikolai Baskov
Among fans of the opera singer, the ballad song “Hijodelaluna” (“Child of the Moon”), which was first performed by the group from Spain “Mecano,” gained considerable popularity. Montserrat once celebrated the Russian performer Nikolai Baskov. She recognized a great singer in the young tenor and offered him vocal lessons. Subsequently, Montserrat and Basque sang together a duet from E. L. Webber's musical The Phantom of the Opera and the famous opera Ave Maria.
Personal life
At 31, Montserrat Caballe married her colleague, opera baritone Bernabe Marti. They met when Marty was asked to replace a sick performer in Madama Butterfly. There is a kiss scene in this opera. And then Marty kissed Montserrat so sensually and passionately that the woman almost fainted right on stage. The singer no longer hoped to meet love and get married.
Wedding of Montserrat Caballe and Bernabe Marty
After the wedding, she and her husband sang on the same stage more than once. But after a few years, Marty decided to leave the stage. Some said that he was diagnosed with heart problems, others said that, finding himself in the shadow of Caballe’s popularity, he decided to devote himself to his family. One way or another, the loving spouses maintained their marriage throughout their lives. Soon after the wedding, Montserrat gave her beloved two children: a son, Bernabe, and a daughter, Montserrat.
The girl decided to connect her life with singing, like her parents. Today she is one of the best vocalists in Spain. In the late 90s, mother and daughter performed in the joint program “Two Voices, One Heart,” which opened the next opera season in Europe.
Montserrat Caballe with her daughter
Caballe and Marty's happiness was not hampered by either Montserrat's popularity or her excess weight, which began to rapidly increase after a car accident. She got into a car accident when she was young; after a head injury, the receptors in her brain that are responsible for lipid metabolism were switched off. In an interview, the opera diva explained this as follows: when she drinks a glass of water, her body reacts to it as if she had eaten a piece of pie.
With a height of 161 cm, Montserrat Caballe began to weigh more than 100 kg; over time, her figure began to look disproportionate, but the brilliant singer managed to hide this flaw with the help of a special cut of clothes. In addition, Montserrat tries to adhere to specific diets, and from time to time she manages to lose extra pounds. The woman has long given up alcohol; for the most part, her diet consists of fruits, vegetables, herbs and grains.
Montserrat Caballe and Katerina Osadchaya
The singer had more serious problems than being overweight. Back in 1992, at a concert in New York, she became ill, she was hospitalized, and doctors gave Montserrat a disappointing diagnosis - cancer. They insisted on an urgent operation, but her friend Luciano Pavarotti advised not to rush, but to contact the Swiss doctor who treated his daughter.
In the end, surgery was not needed. After some time, Caballe felt better, but decided to limit herself to solo concert activities, since she was very worried and worried on the opera stage, and the doctors advised her to avoid stress.
Montserrat Caballe with family
On the eve of the New Year 2021, a scandal erupted around the name of the singer Montserrat Caballe. The Spanish tax authorities have accused the opera diva of concealing part of her taxes since 2010. For this purpose, Caballe has been indicating the state of Andorra as her place of residence for several years.
For non-payment of taxes, the court sentenced the 82-year-old vocalist to prison for 6 months and a fine. But this measure was applied conditionally in connection with Montserrat disease. At the age of 80, the singer suffered a stroke, which greatly undermined her health.
By the beginning of 2021, the conflict between the authorities and Caballe had already been resolved.
Personal life of Montserrat Caballe
Montserrat first saw her future husband, Spanish tenor Marty Bernabe, in 1962 on the stage of Barcelona's Las Arenas. She liked him, and when a few months later Caballe’s partner in the play “Madama Butterfly” fell ill, the prima offered to replace him with Marty.
Montserrat Caballe and Marty Bernabe
At his first performance, Bernabe behaved timidly and uncertainly - he did not have enough time to prepare. But at the second performance he showed himself in all his glory: right on stage he embraced his partner in a passionate embrace, rewarding her with a passionate kiss. Caballe was flattered and angry at the same time - this man caused a storm of emotions in her soul that she had not experienced before.
Montserrat Caballé & Bernabé Martí – Luisa Fernanda: Caballero del alto plumero
They started dating, went to restaurants, talked to each other for a long time on the phone. Bernabe was in no hurry to get married - he was happy with an open relationship, but Montserrat was raised in strict Catholic traditions and made it clear that they either got married or separated. In January 1964, Marty asked the singer’s parents for their daughter’s hand in marriage, and a few days later, right during the performance, he gave her the coveted ring.
Wedding Montserrat Caballe
The wedding took place on August 14 in the church of the famous Montserrat monastery, the main shrine of Catalonia. On the way, the bride's car broke down, and the singer had to get to the temple in a cattle truck. Because of this, she was late for the start of the wedding ceremony, but this circumstance did not in any way affect her further happy family life.
With husband and son (1971)
A year after the wedding, Caballe’s landmark performance took place at Carnegie Hall, which made her a world celebrity. But the family always remained in first place for the opera diva; for the sake of her children and husband, she could cancel the performance at any time, despite the dissatisfaction of the organizers and huge monetary penalties.
Montserra Caballe with her husband and children
Caballe lived with her husband for 54 years, until her last days, and raised her son Bernabe and daughter Montserrat, who, like her mother, became an opera singer.
Montserrat Caballe now
In 2021, the opera diva celebrated her 85th birthday. Despite her age, she continues to perform. In June, the singer came to Moscow to give a concert at the Kremlin Palace. And the day before I came to visit Ivan Urgant on the “Evening Urgant” program, where I talked about the upcoming performance.
Montserrat Caballe visiting Ivan Urgant
The concert turned out to be a family affair; Montserrat's daughter Marti and granddaughter Daniela came along with her. Of the 16 numbers, the opera singer performed only 7. The prima spent the entire concert in a wheelchair. Lately, Caballe has had problems with her legs and has difficulty walking.
On October 6, 2021, the death of the singer became known. She died in Barcelona, in a hospital where she was admitted due to bladder problems.
Parties
- The role of Mimi in the opera La bohème by D. Puccini
- The role of Lucrezia Borgia in the opera of the same name by G. Donizetti
- The part of Norma in the opera of the same name by V. Bellini
- Pamina's part in The Magic Flute by W. Mozart
- Marina's role in "Boris Godunov" by M. Mussorgsky
- Tatiana's role in P. Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin
- The role of Manon in the opera of the same name by J. Massenet
- Part of Turandot in the opera of the same name by D. Puccini
- Isolde's part in R. Wagner's Tristan and Isolde
- Ariadne's part in "Ariadne auf Naxos" by R. Strauss
- Part of Salome in the opera of the same name by R. Strauss
- The role of Tosca in the opera of the same name by G. Puccini
Biography of Montserrat Caballe
Montserrat Caballe is rightly called today a worthy heir to the legendary artists of the past - Giuditta Pasta, Julia and Giuditta Grisi, Maria Malibran.
Montserrat Caballe in childhood and youth
S. Nikolaevich and M. Kotelnikova define the singer’s creative personality this way:
“Her style is a combination of the intimacy of the very act of singing and high passions, a celebration of strong and yet very tender and pure emotions. Caballe's style is all about joyful and sinless enjoyment of life, music, communication with people and nature. This does not mean that there are no tragic notes in her register. How many times did she have to die on stage Violetta, Madame Butterfly, Mimi, Tosca, Salome, Adrienne Lecouvreur... Her heroines died from a dagger and from consumption, from poison or from a bullet, but each of them was given the opportunity to experience that one moment when the soul rejoices, filled with the glory of her last takeoff, after which no fall, no Pinkerton’s betrayal, no poison of the Princess of Bouillon is no longer scary. Whatever Caballe sings about, her very voice already contains the promise of heaven. And for these unfortunate girls whom she played, royally rewarding them with her luxurious forms, radiant smile and planetary glory, and for us, lovingly listening to her in the semi-darkness of the breathless hall. Heaven is near. It seems to be just a stone's throw away, but you can't see it with binoculars.
Montserrat Caballe worked as a seamstress and cutter in her youth
Caballe is a devout Catholic, and faith in God is the basis of her singing. This faith allows her to ignore the passions of theatrical struggle and behind-the-scenes rivalry.
"I believe in God. God is our creator,” says Caballe. “And it doesn’t matter who professes what religion or maybe doesn’t profess anything at all.” It is important that He is here (points to his chest). In your soul. All my life I carry with me something that was marked by His grace - a small olive branch from the Garden of Gethsemane. And along with it there is also a tiny image of the Mother of God - the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are always with me. I took them when I got married, when I gave birth to children, when I went to the hospital for surgery. Always".
Montserrat Caballe was born on April 12, 1933 in Barcelona. Here she studied with the Hungarian singer E. Kemeny. Her voice attracted attention at the Barcelona Conservatory, from which Montserrat graduated with a gold medal. However, this was followed by years of work in minor Swiss and West German troupes.
Caballe's debut took place in 1956 on the stage of the Opera House in Basel, where she performed as Mimi in G. Puccini's opera La bohème. The opera houses of Basel and Bremen became the main opera venues for the singer over the next decade. There she performed many roles in operas of different eras and styles. Caballe sang the role of Pamina in “The Magic Flute” by W. Mozart, Marina in “Boris Godunov” by M. Mussorgsky, Tatiana in “Eugene Onegin” by P. Tchaikovsky, Ariadne in “Ariadne auf Naxos”. She performed as Salome in R. Strauss's opera of the same name, and sang the title role of Tosca in G. Puccini's Tosca.
Gradually, Caballe begins to perform on the stages of opera houses in Europe. In 1958 she sang at the Vienna State Opera, and in 1960 she first appeared on the stage of La Scala.
Montserrat Caballe has toured all over the world
“And at that time,” says Caballe, “my brother, who later became my impresario, did not allow me to relax. I wasn’t thinking then about fame, but, above all, I was striving for real, all-consuming creativity. Some kind of anxiety was beating inside me all the time, and I was impatiently learning more and more new roles.”
As collected and purposeful as the singer is on stage, she is so unorganized in life - she even managed to be late for her own wedding.
S. Nikolaevich and M. Kotelnikova talk about this:
“This was in 1964. The first (and only!) wedding in her life - with Bernabe Marta - was to take place in the church at the monastery on Mount Montserrat. There is such a mountain in Catalonia, not far from Barcelona. The bride's mother, the strict Donna Anna, thought that this would be a very romantic ceremony, overshadowed by the patronage of the Reverend Montserrat herself. The groom agreed, and so did the bride. Although everyone thought to themselves, “August. The heat is terrible, how will we climb up there with all our guests? And Bernabe’s relatives, frankly speaking, are not from their first youth, because he was the youngest in a family with ten children. Well, in general, there is nowhere to go on the mountain, so on the mountain. And so on the wedding day, Montserrat leaves with her mother in an old Volkswagen, which she bought with her first money, when she was singing in Germany. And this has to happen for it to rain in Barcelona in August. It keeps pouring and pouring. By the time we got to the mountain, the road was bad. The car is stuck. Neither here nor here. The engine stalled. Montserrat tried to dry it with hairspray. They had 12 kilometers left. All the guests are already upstairs. And they are floundering here, and there is no chance of climbing up. And then Montserrat, in a wedding dress and veil, wet as can be, stands on the road and begins to vote.
Any paparazzi would give half his life for such a shot now. But then no one knew her. Passenger cars drove indifferently past a large dark-haired girl in a ridiculous white dress, desperately gesticulating on the road. Fortunately, a shabby cattle truck pulled up. Montserrat and Anna climbed onto it and rushed to the church, where the poor groom and his guests no longer knew what to think. Then she was a whole hour late.”
That same year, on April 20, Caballe's finest hour came - as often happens, the result of an unexpected replacement. In New York, at Carnegie Hall, a little-known singer sang an aria from Donizetti's opera Lucrezia Borgia instead of the ill celebrity Marilyn Horne. In response to a nine-minute aria - a twenty-minute ovation...
The next morning, the New York Times came out with a catchy full-page headline, “Callas + Tibaldi + Caballe.” Not much time will pass, and life will confirm this formula: the Spanish singer will sing all the great divas of the 20th century.
Montserrat Caballe loves to eat and drive
Success allows the singer to receive a contract, and she becomes a soloist at the Metropolitan Opera. Since that time, the best theaters around the world have been striving to get Caballe on their stage.
