Google honors Montserrat Caballé, Spanish operatic soprano on 89th birthday

Happy Birthday Montserrat Caballé!!!

Google today celebrates the 89th birthday of Montserrat Caballé, the famous Spanish operatic soprano. Google has dedicated a special artistic doodle to her, who is  best known as an exponent of the works of Verdi and of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti.

Montserrat Caballé was born on April 12, 1933 in Barcelona. She studied music at the Liceu Conservatory, and singing technique with Napoleone Annovazzi, Eugenia Kemény and Conchita Badía. She graduated with a gold medal in 1954. After moving to Switzerland’s Basel, she she made her professional debut as a last minute replacement as Mimì in Puccini's La bohème in 1956.

Montserrat Caballé became part of the Basel Opera company between 1957 and 1959. She used to sing a repertoire that included Mozart (Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte) and Strauss (Salome) in German, unusual for Spanish singers, but which proved useful for her next engagement at the Bremen Opera (1959–1962).

In the year 1961, Montserrat Caballé was starred as Iphigénie in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride at the National Theatre of S. Carlos in Lisbon, alongside Raymond Wolansky, Jean Cox, Paul Schöffler and others. She went on to give more than 3,800 performances in over 80 roles on five continents. She married Spanish tenor Bernabé Martí (1928–2022) on 14 August 1964 at Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey.

Montserrat Caballé’s ability to sing in multiple styles and keys opened doors to performing music ranging from Mozart to more traditional recital pieces all around the world. Her global breakthrough came in 1965 when she replaced a pregnant Marilyn Horne in a semi-staged performance of Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia at New York's Carnegie Hall, which earned her a 25-minute standing ovation. Her performance made her world-famous in the opera dynasty.

Montserrat Caballé’s stellar career reached new heights in 1987, when she and close friend Freddie Mercury recorded “Barcelona”, the eventual anthem for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. She received many accolades including five Grammy nominations and won the award in 1968 for Best Classical Vocal Performance.

Montserrat Caballé suffered stroke in October 2012 in Russia’s Yekaterinburg. She was quickly transferred to the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona. She was admitted to the same hospital in September 2018 for having problem in the gallbladder. She died on October 6, 2018 at the age of 85.

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