This issue celebrates the eightieth birthday of
Montserrat Caballé (b. 1933), one of the outstanding singers
of the second half of the twentieth century. In the course of the second
part of her career she made no fewer than twenty-eight studio opera
recordings for various major labels. These spanned the bel canto, lyrico
spinto and verismo genres as well as many recital discs. There are innumerable
pirate recordings. Yet hers was a career that may never have escaped
from the minor opera houses of Europe were it not for a piece of good
luck. This involved her being asked to stand in for the then emerging
American mezzo Marilyn Horne in a performance of Donizetti’s
Lucrezia
Borgia for the
American Opera Society in 1966. By that year
Caballé had been singing professionally for ten years and in
diverse repertoire that even extended to the likes of Strauss’s
thickly orchestrated
Salome. She was also at home learning the
Marschallin in
Der Rosenkavalier for Glyndebourne when the call
came. I recount, in full, the background and consequences of the success
of her performance that night in my review of the recording of
Lucrezia
Borgia made shortly afterwards by RCA (see
review).
Caballé served her operatic stage apprenticeship at the Basle
Opera where she sang a very varied repertoire that included the classic
Mozart roles of Pamina, Donna Anna and Fiordiligi, as well as the distinctly
heavier parts of Aida, Salome, Tatyana and the
Tannhäuser
Elisabeth. In a small and well-run ensemble house it was ideal preparation
for the extended career she was to enjoy. She graduated to the Vienna
State Opera in 1960, and the Barcelona Liceu in 1962. However, it was
her performance in the title role of
Lucrezia Borgia that caused
an audience furore and launched her extended international and recording
career.
By the age of twenty-nine Caballé was mistress of sixty roles.
Consequently she did not restrict herself to any particular recording
company, or to the bel canto repertoire in her many visits to the studio.
Her varied vocal strengths led to her recording for Decca, DG, RCA and
Spanish labels as well as EMI. Her biographers (Robert Pullen and Stephen
Taylor, Indigo, 1994) list her extensive discography (pp. 431-436) which,
although I haven’t counted, I believe exceeds any other singer
in the post 78 rpm era.
In this collection Caballé exhibits her security of bel canto
coloratura, with rapid decorations and limpid tone interspersed with
well-enunciated words. There is even a vestigial trill (Tr.1), a skill
in which she was no match to her friend and rival in this territory,
Joan Sutherland. The evenness of Caballé’s tone, and immaculate
technique across her wide vocal range, allied to innate musicality,
make her singing in this repertoire at least the equal of that of the
Australian diva in the post Second World War period. Her voice is much
preferred, by me, to the often strained efforts and curdled tone of
Callas.
Caballé’s considerable skills are represented in this collection
by examples from two of Bellini’s operas. Regrettably, the casting
in these complete recordings is less than perfect (see
review)
and the influence she exercised over the choice of her husband in the
eponymous tenor role in
Il Pirata is misplaced but not relevant
here (Trs.4-6). Her Elvira in
I Puritani is light-toned rather
than girlish (Trs.1-3). While significantly superior to Callas in this
role she is no match for Netrebko on the live performance from the Met
in 2007 and available on DVD (see
review).
What perhaps defined Caballé compared to her contemporaries was
her capacity to move, on stage or in the recording studio, between verismo,
bel canto and dramatic roles within a very short time. The recording
of
Aida in 1974 followed shortly after her memorable performances
of
Norma at Orange when the mistral blew her costume, but not
her voice, all over the place (Hardy Classics DVD). Her floated high
note at the end of
O patria mia (Tr.7) is to die for. As to her
survey of the long act five aria
Tu che le vanita from Verdi’s
Don Carlo (Tr.6) it has always underwhelmed me personally, but
not others.
The final four arias come from a recital selection (Trs.9-11) set down
in 1971. Caballé is in superb voice. The floated opening phrases
of
Pace, pace, mio dio from the last act of Verdi’s
La
Forza del destino have rarely sounded better, even from the likes
of Leontyne Price. The soaring opening, the following diminuendo and
the rich-toned hue to the voice are wonderful to listen to. So too are
the final items for the last act of
Otello (Trs.11-12). The floated
high note in the
Ave Maria, and the strings that foretell the
arrival of Otello, and Desdemona’s death, are memorable in their
effect. They represent Montserrat Caballé at her very best and
make a fitting end to this selection that celebrates her eightieth anniversary.
Robert J Farr
