Happy Birthday Montserrat Caballe, 12th April 1933 -

When it comes to operatic diva's, few can ever surpass the talent of Montserrat Caballe.  With a career that has spanned around 60 years, her immense vocal versatility and repertoire has few peers.  I once read that her voice is like a combination of Tebaldi and Callas, the vocal beauty of the former combined with the range and agility of the latter.

When it came to choosing image and video for this post I have to confess it was extremely difficult.  Do I highlight her awesome Bel Canto repertoire (Norma), her delicious Wagnerian/Straussian voice (Salome), or the more visceral portrayal of  Versismo heroines (Tosca)?  Hard to choose really as she was at home in all three.

  

Her amazing legacy of recordings, which spans many genres, is testament to her incredible popularity and talent, who could ever forget her duet with Freddie Mercury - Barcelona?  I leave you however with this incredibly rare final scene from Strauss' Salome.  If you can stand the average sound quality I implore you to watch it and then seek out the second part.

Happy birthday Montserrat Caballe.  I thank you for enriching my life with your sublime voice, you were a great influence on my early love of opera, still are, and I return time after time to your amazing recorded vocal jewels.  I wish you many more years to come, you are a living operatic treasure.

As always, if you wish to learn more, head to Wikipedia.