Montserrat Caballé (1933-2018)

Montserrat Caballé (who died a week ago yesterday, at 85):
"All the vocal virtues are here in abundance, giving us the
special thrill of hearing this music sung by a voice
of this size, beauty, and range of color"

In pity's name, my dearest, forgive
the misdeed of a loving soul;
amid this shade and these plants
forever hidden, oh God, let it be.

Montserrat Caballé (s), Fiordiligi; Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Colin Davis, cond. Philips, recorded c1973

by Ken

Above we've heard the beginning of Fiordiligi's Act II rondo from Così fan tutte, "Per pietà." And yes, this is the very beginning, following directly -- as we'll hear again shortly -- with no further orchestral introduction from a stretch of orchestrally accompanied recitative. We've listened to "Per pietà" more than once, and each time I've tried to convey in words how beautiful it seems to me, and undoubtedly failed each time. So let me just say now, I'm not saying that it's the most beautiful thing Mozart ever wrote, but then again I'm not saying it isn't. It could be. From which it follows automatically: Something that could be the most beautiful thing Mozart ever wrote is one of the most beautiful combinations of sounds ever imagined by the mind of humankind.

We heard this opening chunk of "Per pietà" in a December 2015 post, "Ariadne and Fiordiligi: Real people and feelings vs. ideas about people and feelings," in which we hacked the aria into a series of chunks and made our way through them, listening to the same two performances all the way. Both were from complete recordings of Così: Margaret Price's (with Otto Klemperer, for EMI) and Montserrat Caballé's (with Colin Davis, for Philips). Eventually we heard not just theirs but a number of other fine recordings of the full recitative and aria, but none -- to my ears -- as good as Price's and Caballé's. As I wrote at the time:

Margaret Price's Fiordiligi seems to me one of the great recordings of an operatic role, fulfilling this extraordinariliy demanding music with an equally extraordinary array of vocal resources, and singing it all with such melting beauty and depth of feeling. Note in particular the handling of all those vocal skips and leaps, like that octave-and-a-fifth drop in the opening of "Per pietà"; I've never heard anyone make them sound as humanly believable. At a certain point in her career Price sensibly retired this role to move on to other things, but while she sang it, she sang it supremely.

And I would say pretty much the same for Caballé's Fiordiligi. We were just discussing her in the context of Strauss's Four Last Songs, wondering at the beauty, mobility, and size of the voice, and also venting frustration about the careless way the voice was often used. She was an unexpected choice as Philips's Fiordiligi, and, as it turned out, a spectacular choice. All the vocal virtues are here in abundance, giving us the special thrill of hearing this music sung by a voice of this size, beauty, and range of color.

OK, THIS IS AN ODD WAY TO MEMORIALIZE A SINGER,
BUT LIFE WITH LA CABALLÉ WAS, UM, COMPLICATED

And I think we have to deal with the complications. First, though, we should be clear about the glories. So let's listen now to the whole of Caballé's "Per pietà."

MOZART: Così fan tutte, K. 588: Act II, Recitative and rondo, Fiordiligi, "Ei parte" . . . "Per pietà, ben mio, perdona"

Accompanied recitative
He's left, listen, ah no! Let him go.
Let my sight be free of the unlucky object
of my weakness. To what a pass
this cruel man has brought me!
This is a just reward for my sins!
Was this the time
for me to heed the sighs
of a new lover, to make sport
of another's sighs? Ah, rightly
you condemn this heart, o just love!
I burn, and my ardour is no longer
the outcome of a virtuous love:
It is madness,
anguish, remorse, repentance,
fickleness, deceit and betrayal!
Rondo
In pity's name, my dearest, forgive
the misdeed of a loving soul;
amid this shade and these plants
forever hidden, oh God, let it be.
My courage, my constancy
will drive away this dishonourable desire
and banish the memory
which fills me with shame and horror.
And who is it whom
this unworthy heart has betrayed?
Dear heart, your trust deserved
a better reward!

-- English translation mostly by Lionel Salter

Montserrat Caballé (s), Fiordiligi; Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Colin Davis, cond. Philips, recorded c1973

While we're at it, let's listen again to Caballé singing Fiordiligi's monumental Act I aria, "Come scoglio."

MOZART: Così fan tutte, K. 588: Act I, Recitative and aria, Fiordiligi, "Temerari, sortite" . . . "Come scoglio immoto resta"

Accompanied recitative
Bold creatures, begone!
Flee from this place!
And with the unwelcome breath of base words
do not profane our hearts,
our ears, and our affections!
In vain do you or others seek to seduce
our souls; the unsullied faith that
we plighted to our dear lovers
we shall know how to preserve for them
until death, despite the world and fate.
Aria
Like a rock standing impervious
to winds and tempest,
so stands my heart ever strong
in faith and love.
Between us we have kindled
a flame that warms
and consoles us,
and death alone could
change my heart's devotion.
Respect this example
of constancy,
you abject creatures,
and do not let a base hope
make you so rash again!

-- English translation mostly by Lionel Salter

Montserrat Caballé (s), Fiordiligi; Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Colin Davis, cond. Philips, recorded c1973


OVER THE YEARS WE'VE HEARD A LOT OF CABALLÉ,
AND WE'RE GOING TO HEAR -- OR REHEAR -- MORE

As I indicated in my note about the Così performances, not long before that post, Caballé had been one of the singers we heard perform the first two of Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs, "Frühling" ("Spring") and "September," in a November 2015 post. First we heard several sopranos of more or less lyric weight; then we turned to two "vocally heftier sopranos," because, as I explained, "With not just extra vocal oomph but a richer and more complex vocal texture and a wider range of vocal expressive options, I think the songs can come out quite differently." I noted too that I was including Caballé's version, "not because I endorse it in all respects, but because that sumptuous voice with its kaleidoscope of vocal colors and textures affords such large possibilities." Still, the fact remains that I did include Caballé's version, and I think it's worth hearing again, because she did things with this music, wonderful things, that I've never heard anyone else do.

R. STRAUSS: Four Last Songs:
i. "Frühling" ("Spring")

ii. "September"

Montserrat Caballé, soprano; Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Alain Lombard, cond. Erato, recorded September 1976

Two quick notes concerning the Strauss songs:

(1) Worth considering here is that I don't think Caballé was terribly comfortable singing in German, which she didn't do all that much.

(2) The record should indicate that the other version of these songs we heard in that post by a "vocally heftier singer," specifically Leontyne Price, I endorsed "in pretty much all respects," saying, "I think it's pretty spectacular. Instead of teasing and torturing the vocal line, Price binds her expressive points into the vocal line."

ALL OF THIS SAID, WHY DON'T WE CONCLUDE THIS
INSTALLMENT WITH A RENDITION OF "CASTA DIVA"?

Bellini's famous chewer-up of foolhardy singers, Norma, became an important role for Caballé. Though she certainly had the tools for it, the Norma faithful never quite accepted her into the ranks of the divine, though as often happens in cases like this, various of the faithful will announce to us that this or that live performance among the bunch in circulation is "the one." I'm not a member of that clan, and in fact devoted a June 2015 Sunday Classics "snapshot," "Life among the druids," to what most intrigues me about Norma is the dark musical currents most noticeable in music involving Oroveso, Norma's father.

Nevertheless, in that post we did "do" Casta diva, and I think Caballé's performance is distinctive enough on its own terms to be worth hearing again. This is, again, from 1972 RCA complete studio Norma. However, knowing that Norma-philes like to compare stuff, this time I'm offering, not a later live performance, but an earlier studio one, the "Casta diva from Presenting Montserrat Caballé, the singer's first RCA opera-recital LP.

BELLINI: Norma: Act I, Scene 1, Druids and Priestesses, "Norma viene" . . . Norma, "Sediziose voci, voci di guerra" . . . "Casta diva" . . . "Fine al rito" . . . "Ah! bello a me ritorna"

The Druids return, with Druidesses, Gaulish warriors, bards, etc. in their train. In the midst of all comes OROVESO.

DRUIDS and DRUIDESSES: Norma is coming; her hair is bound
with verbena, sacred to the mysteries'
in her hand, like the sickle moon,
the golden sickle sheds brightness.
She comes; and the star of Rome,
affrighted, veils its face.
Irminsul flies across the fields of heaven
like a comet, precursor of horror, etc.
[NORMA, her hair about her shoulders, her brow encircled by a wreath of verbena, a golden sickle in her hand, advances to the altar stone.]
Recitative
NORMA: Do seditious voices, voices of war
dare to raise themselves
near the altar of the god?
Are there those who presume
to dictate answers
to the prophetess Norma,
and speed the hidden fate of Rome?
It does not depend, no,
it does not depend on human might.
OROVESO: And how much longer
would you have us oppressed?
Have not our native woods
and our ancestral temples
been polluted long enough
by the Roman eagles?
The swords of Brennus
can remain idle no longer.
DRUIDS and WARRIORS: Let it be raised once.
NORMA: And shattered it will fall!
Shattered, yes, if any of you
attempt to unsheathe it prematurely.
The time is not yet ripe
for our revenge.
The Roman javelins are still stronger
than the axes of the Sicambri.
OROVESO, DRUIDS, and WARRIORS:
And what does the god announce to you?
Speak; what are the auguries?
NORMA: I read in the secret books of heaven:
in the pages of death
the name of proud Rome is written.
She will perish one day;
but not through you.
Of her own vices she will perish,
worn out she will die.
Await the hour, the fateful hour
when the grand decree shall be fulfilled.
Peace I enjoin upon you --
and I will reap the sacred mistletoe.
[She cuts the mistletoe, and, as she raises her arms to the moon, all kneel.]
Aria
Chaste goddess, who dost silver
these ancient sacred trees,
turn upon us thy fair face
unclouded and unveiled,
unveiled, yes, unveiled!
OROVESO, DRUIDS, DRUIDESSES, and WARRIORS
[taking up her chant]: Chaste goddess, who dost silver
these ancient sacred trees,
turn upon us thy fair face
unclouded and unveiled.
NORMA: Temper, o goddess,
temper those ardent spirits,
temper yet their bold zeal,
oh, shed upon earth that peace
that thou makest to reign in heaven.
OROVESO, DRUIDS, DRUIDESSES, and WARRIORS:
Goddess, shed upon earth that peace
that thou makest to reign in heaven.
Recitative
NORMA: Complete the rites,
and let the sacred grove
be cleared of the uninitiate.
When the god in gloomy anger
demands the blood of the Romans,
from the Druids' temple
my voice will thunder.
OROVESO, DRUIDS, DRUIDESSES, and WARRIORS:
Let it thunder;
and not one of the wicked nation
shall escape just punishment;
and, first to be struck by us,
the proconsul will fall.
NORMA: He will fall!
I can punish him.
[To herself] Yet my heart is unable to punish him!
Cabaletta
Ah! return to me beautiful
in your first true love,
and against the whole world
I will be your first defense.
Ah! return to me beautiful
with your serene gaze,
and, on your breast, life, country
and heaven I'll find.
OROVESO, DRUIDS, DRUIDESSES, and WARRIORS:
Thou art slow to arrive,
o day of vengeance;
but the angry god who has condemned
the Tiber will speed thy coming.
NORMA [to herself]:
Ah! return to me beautiful, etc.
OROVESO, DRUIDS, DRUIDESSES, and WARRIORS:
But the angry god, yes, etc.
NORMA [to herself]:
Ah! return again as you were then,
when I gave you my heart then,
as you were then,
when I gave you my heart,
ah, come back to me.
OROVESO, DRUIDS, DRUIDESSES, and WARRIORS:
O great day, may the god who has
condemned Rome hasten thy coming!
[All exit except the young novice ADALGISA.]

["Casta diva" at 8:02; "Ah! bello" at 16:43] Montserrat Caballé (s), Norma; Ruggero Raimondi (bs), Oroveso; Ambrosian Opera Chorus Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlo Felice Cillario, cond. RCA, recorded September 1972

[begins with "Casta diva" and afterward is shortened; "Ah! bello" at 8:09] Montserrat Caballé (s), Norma; chorus and orchestra, Carlo Felice Cillario, cond. RCA, recorded c1965


I CAN'T SAY EXACTLY WHAT OR WHEN, BUT WE
STILL HAVE A LOT OF CABALLÉ TO LISTEN TO

I know we'll be hearing from the other recording, besides the Philips Così, that I think of right away when I think of Caballé, partly because the role is so unexpected but more because it's so good: her Salome in the beautiful 1968 RCA recording conducted by Erich Leinsdorf. And Verdi is bound to come up, including the opera in which I heard her give the performance I remember best.

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