Caballé, Montserrat

b. 1933, Barcelona

   Opera singer

   One of the great sopranos of her generation, Montserrat Caballé became a household name in the many countries of the world where she performed during her career. She made her début in 1956 with the Basel Opera, playing Mimi in Puccini's La Bohème. During the next ten years Montserrat Caballé toured the major opera houses of Europe, singing German and later the lyrical Italian operas. In 1965 she made a sensational New York début in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia. As well as her extremely wide operatic repertoire, Caballé gave numerous recitals, often of Catalan and Spanish songs. In the late 1980s, she performed in the famous Barcelona concert with the rock singer Freddie Mercury, and she sang at the opening ceremony of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. Caballé earned a reputation for awkwardness which rivalled that of Callas. She had strong views on how certain operas should be played, and refused to compromise on standards. In 1973 she got her way after a major row on the performance of Bellini's Norma at La Scala, which proved to be one of her major successes. Possibly the biggest scandal of her career also came at La Scala in 1982. She was to play the leading role in a revival production of the 1957 version of Donizetti's Anna Bolena, which Visconti had prepared for Callas. The famous curse of Callas seemed to strike when Caballé failed to sing at the first night performance because of illness. However, the audience were not told of the illness until they were in their seats, and a near riot ensued. Caballé eventually performed the role ten days later, and, typically, won over her initially hostile audience. She repeated the role in a special performance staged for ITV's South Bank Show in 1993 at the Tower of London.

   DAVID GEORGE