Montserrat Caballé

Montserrat Caballé was born in Barcelona in 1933. Her teacher Napoleone Annovazzi heard something in her voice and suggested she move from coloratura to lyric soprano repertoire, which turned out to be the right call. After winning the Geneva International Music Competition in 1956, she got her big break in 1965 when she stepped in for Teresa Berganza in Donizetti's 'Lucrezia Borgia' at Carnegie Hall.

She became known for bel canto operas by composers like Rossini and Donizetti. People talked about her breath control and how she could sustain notes, but she also had a way with more popular material. Her duet with Freddie Mercury, 'Barcelona,' became one of her most recognizable recordings outside the opera house, and she recorded songs like 'How Can I Go On' and 'O Mio Babbino Caro' that reached audiences who might never set foot in an opera theater.

In 1982, she canceled a performance of 'Norma' at the Metropolitan Opera, which led to some public speculation about her voice and a lawsuit from the opera house. She kept performing after that. In 1987, she had surgery for a brain tumor and returned to singing.