Montserrat Caballé: Google Doodle celebrates Spanish operatic soprano La Superba’s 89th birthday

Google Doodle celebrates the 89th birthday of Spanish operatic soprano Montserrat “La Superba” Caballé, known for her vocal technique and her performances of the bel canto repertoire, on April 12, 2022. One of the best sopranos of all time and a strong and energetic opera singer who observed famous acclaim playing out the dramatic anthem of Barcelona with Freddie Mercury.

Who was Montserrat Caballé?

María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé I Folch was born in Barcelona on 12 April 1933. She was a significant star of international opera houses focusing mainly on the Italian repertory, particularly Verdi, Donizetti and Rossini.

Montserrat Caballé graduated with a gold medal from the city’s Liceu Conservatory in 1954. She moved to Basel in Switzerland, where she made her professional debut two years after the fact as Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème. With the Basel Opera organization somewhere in the range of 1957 and 1959, she sang Richard Strauss’ Salome in German, an uncommon role for a Spanish singer, yet which led the way to her next engagement at the Bremen Opera, from 1959-to 1962.

In 1962, Montserrat Caballé got back to Barcelona and appeared as Strauss’ Arabella at the Liceu. Her international breakthrough came in 1965 when she substituted for Marilyn Horne in a semi-staged performance of Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia at New York’s Carnegie Hall, which procured her a 25-minute standing ovation.

While she needed to get familiar with the role in under one month, her performance made her famous around the world. Sometime thereafter, she made her debut at Glyndebourne singing in Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier and depicting the role of Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

In 1967, Montserrat Caballé sang three Verdi heroines at the Met: Leonora in Il Trovatore, Desdemona in Otello, and Violetta in La Traviata. The last role specifically won her further approval with American pundits and audiences. In 1969, she sang Elisabetta of Valois in an all-star production (including Plácido Domingo) of Don Carlo at the Arena di Verona.

Montserrat Caballé’s high B on the final “Ciel” toward the finish of the opera lasted more than 20 bars – up to the final chord from the orchestra. Likewise, Ii these performances she had to perform on bolsters in light of a mishap prior that year in New York City.

In 1972, she made her first appearances at Covent Garden and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, both in La Traviata. In 1977 she made her debut with the San Francisco Opera in the title role of Puccini’s Turandot. She returned there on ten additional events over the next decade.

As her voice developed, Montserrat Caballé moved into more dramatic roles, singing Tosca in San Francisco with Pavarotti, Norma in Madrid, and Adriana Lecouvreur at the Met opposite José Carreras.

Montserrat Caballé recorded both the title role in Norma and later the role of Adalgisa – to Joan Sutherland’s Norma. She is one of the most energetic sounding Adalgisas on record, despite the way that she was more than 50 years of age at the time.

Montserrat Caballé’s duet with Freddie Mercury of Queen, Barcelona, became a hit single in 1988, joined by an album of a similar name. The title track later became the anthem of the 1992 Summer Olympics which was hosted by Caballé’s local city and showed up again in the pop music charts all through Europe.

She likewise played out the song live, joined by a recording by the late Mercury, before the 1999 UEFA Champions League football final in Barcelona. She additionally worked with Greek composer Vangelis in 1995 for his album El Greco, devoted to the painter of a similar name.

Montserrat Caballé was focused on different charities. She was a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and had established a foundation for needy children in Barcelona.

On 20 October 2012, during her tour in Russia, Montserrat Caballé experienced a stroke in Yekaterinburg and was immediately moved to the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona.

In September 2018, she was admitted to the same hospital for a gallbladder issue. She died there on 6 October 2018 at 85 years old.

In a career that lasted over half a century, she sang principal roles in more than 90 operas and gave 4000 performances – her fans called her La Superba.

Montserrat Caballé got five Grammy nominations during her career, winning the award in 1968 for Best Classical Vocal Performance. She additionally established Fundació Montserrat Caballé-an association to help youthful ability in Barcelona-and served as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

On April 12, 2022, Google highlighted a Doodle on its homepage for celebrating Montserrat Caballé’s 89th Birthday.