The soprano Montserrat Caballé died at the age of 85 at dawn on Saturday at the Hospital Sant Pau in Barcelona, hospital sources have reported. The artist, whose health had been delicate for years, had been hospitalized since mid-September in the center for a condition she had suffered for some time.
The funeral will be Monday at noon at the Tanatorio de les Corts, while the wake will be this Sunday from 2:00 pm at the same center, according to funeral sources.
Throughout his more than 50 years of career, Caballé (Barcelona, 1933) has performed hundreds of operas and concerts in major theaters around the world along with the best orchestras and distributions, thanks to a repertoire that covers nearly 90 papers corresponding to more than 40 operas. With a legendary mastery of the art of ‘pianissimo’, an exquisite technique and a powerful and versatile voice, the Catalan artist broke the schemes by performing both pieces by Rossini, Bellini or Donizetti as well as Mozart or Dvorak.
«There is no other female singer who has sung in all her life from Norma to Isolda, from Dona Elvira to Salomé. This is absolutely unique in the history of music and everything at that level, «affirmed in a documentary about the soprano in 2003 the former director of the Vienna opera Ioan Holender. The versatility of Caballé went a step further in 1988, when he recorded the album ‘Barcelona’ with Freddy Mercury.
Despite his health problems – a malignant tumor had been detected twenty years before – Caballé remained active, although he regulated his actions more and more. His last years were splashed by strokes and concussions that made him enter the hospital several times as well as a case of tax fraud in Spain for which he ended up sentenced to six months in prison in December 2015. However, he avoided entering to jail and had to pay a fine of more than 250,000 euros for tax fraud after closing an agreement with the courts.
The career of Caballé, considered the best Spanish opera singer, led him to win several awards and distinctions such as a Grammy and the Prince of Asturias of the Arts of 1991.
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Pedro Sánchez
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@sanchezcastejon
Sad . A great ambassador of our country dies, an opera soprano recognized internationally. Monserrat Caballé, his voice and his sweetness, will always remain with us.
8:54 – 6 oct. 2018
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The president of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, has described as «sad » the death of the soprano, which has been defined as «great ambassador of our country, internationally recognized.» «His voice and his sweetness will always remain with us,» the chief executive wrote in a message posted on his official Twitter account.