Montserrat Caballe: Casta Diva [Hardcover]

Robert Pullen (Author), Stephen Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 1995

This is the story of Montserrat Caballe's life and career from her childhood in war-torn Spain, through her years of training and struggle, to her current world-star status. The authors draw on a wealth of the diva's private documents, photographs, and personal reminiscences, and provide a shrewd and evenhanded analysis of her art, both on stage and in recordings.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The legendary Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe is known for her beautiful and distinctive tone, her flawless vocal technique, the leading roles she has undertaken--and for her tendency to cancel her engagements. Here, according to two very respectful admirers, is the scoop on everything from her early life through the various facets of her career, her marriage and family life, and the reasons (usually health-related) for all those cancellations. Well-written and accurate, if a trifle worshipful in places, this is probably the definitive biography (complete with lots of photographs) of one of the greatest divas of our time.

From Publishers Weekly

She's a phenomenon, in stamina as well as in talent: as of 1994, the Catalan soprano, who debuted in 1956, performed 3800 times, and at the age of 62 has only minimally slowed her pace (by contrast, Joan Sutherland, another indefatigable diva, is credited with 1800 performances between 1952 and her retirement in 1990). As this statistic suggests, operagoers have not tired of Caballe as Norma, Tosca, Turandot or Semiramide or in her other signature roles, which makes this lackluster authorized biography all the more disappointing. There are no sustained high Bs here, only an endless curriculum vitae to astonish but not engross readers. The few personal anecdotes included are silly, such as the one about Caballe's first kiss with tenor Bernabe Marti, whom she married in 1964. About her overweight, which the authors address at length, we're told that Caballe has glandular problems. Pullen and Taylor, British freelance music historians, may have done a job competent enough for the diva to sign "every page of the finally revised draft," but opera devotees are likely to find it boring. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern (January 25, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555532284
• ISBN-13: 978-1555532284
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #365,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN UNTO YOU . . ., May 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Montserrat Caballe: Casta Diva (Hardcover)

The above summarises what can be achieved with this volume. A tribute and paean to one of the(or perhaps, THE) greatest sopranos not only of this century but in all history, this is indeed long overdue but once read, is worth every single second of the wait. Chronicling her life story from her childhood in war-torn Spain to her formative years in Basel and Bremen, to the final day when she burst into the international spotlight and thereafter, this book more than serves as a bible for the Caballe fan. Thorough and all-encompassing in its scope, it provides more than just a cursory glance into Caballe's life. However, its ambitious scale does not in any way diminish the value of its "lesser" contents - the intimate moments that are revealed and shared with the readers. This compendium takes on even more weight and profundity especially when Caballe herself read through the entire draft and personally signed every page as authorisation. Filled to the ends and brimming over with more information than one could ever need, this books also scores with its subtle humour laced throughout the book. Discover how true Caballe's sense of humour is with many examples. Appended at the end with a critical biography, in which Caballe had no hand in, the authors air their views and opinions of the recordings made by Caballe, and if I may say so, they are spot on. Why not read this book if you love classical music. Get this book if you love opera. If you love Caballe, then beg, borrow or steal one if you must, by hook or by crook. It will be the only investment that has definite paybacks. A perfect tribute to La Superba, Montserrat Caballe, Prima Donna Assoluta.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An impressive study of an amazing artist, February 16, 2001

By 

Petra Diener (Berlin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Montserrat Caballe: Casta Diva (Hardcover)

Maria Callas is quoted in this book as advising Caballe that "When you stop arousing controversy, Montserrat, go home. Until then, let the cat fight the dogs". Probably the Spanish soprano didn't need Callas' advice in this regard, but in any event, like all great artists, she has aroused great passion and divided opinion. Few, however, who know anything about the art of great singing, would deny her place as one of the greats of the 20th Century. My admiration for her is based, first and foremost, on the artistry: her's was one of the most beautiful voices, but rarely did she just rely on this fact. Rather, she would time and again find the very centre of a character through imaginative phrasing and peerless use of colour and shading. Vocal acuity was also a notable feature of her art - one that critics more and more are recognising when they return to her recordings and find within them levels of artistry that they took somewhat for granted in the past.

For such an important singer, we have waited a long time for a biography. It might have been expected that she, like most singers, would have received a 'pop' version of a book, one that skated over the surface and which, once read,would be left to languish on the shelf pining for a more detailed and serious treatment to come along by someone with an historical perspective in which to place the artist's contribution to the great lyric tradition. What is impressive, however, is that the Spanish soprano has been fortunate to receive a worthy treatment in this, the very first major book about her.

In my opinion (and in the views of the several friends I have leant it to), Pullen and Taylor's biography manages to be both entertaining and packed with important detail. From all this emerges an engaging portait of Caballe both as as an artist and as a private woman. This achievement should not be under-estimated given the problems of dealing with a living person and one who, in common with all major artists, undoubtedly has a vulnerable ego to protect. I have superficially enjoyed many of the portraits about other living singers - Tebaldi, Domingo, Bartoli, Te Kanawa, to name but a few - but this book serves as an historical document: it provides the detail that is necessary for the book to become a work of reference, and it is also written in a lively and knowledgeable style, so that it can be enjoyed in its own right as an highly entertaining read. Because of the density of detail, it's possible to take the book down from the shelves and dip into it to discover facts and anecdotes that have been forgotten since the last read. And the authors' observations in the extensive critical discography that concludes the book reveal them to be perceptive connoisseurs of the lyric art of singing. They assess Caballe's greatness without blindly singing her praises for everything she does.

I would unhesitatatingly recommend this book, which I have read in the German and English editions.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, April 8, 2008

By 

Dag Kyndel "Kottebo" (Stockholm, Sweden) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Montserrat Caballe: Casta Diva (Hardcover)

When reading this biography I was amazed of the enormous capacity of this singer, you get the impression that sang almost everything, almost every day during her long career - and this in spate of so many serious health problems. The book is filled with interesting details, I just could not stop reading, and immediately bought several more of her records. Highly recommended!