Only Caballé is a slightly schizophrenic, but still worthwhile, collection of excerpts from Montserrat Caballé's career -- mostly from her spectacular days of the 1960s and 1970s, but also from as late as 1998 and 2000; these latter recordings will likely be of interest only to her most ardent fans. Caballé produced enough gorgeous recordings during her career to fill an anthology of any size, and some of her best stuff is represented here, including arias from La bohème, La Traviata, Norma, Rossini's Stabat Mater, and even ...
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Only Caballé is a slightly schizophrenic, but still worthwhile, collection of excerpts from Montserrat Caballé's career -- mostly from her spectacular days of the 1960s and 1970s, but also from as late as 1998 and 2000; these latter recordings will likely be of interest only to her most ardent fans. Caballé produced enough gorgeous recordings during her career to fill an anthology of any size, and some of her best stuff is represented here, including arias from La bohème, La Traviata, Norma, Rossini's Stabat Mater, and even Salome; the unique timbre, suppleness, and strength of her voice, and the sureness of her delivery, are unmistakably great. This excellence makes the inclusion of her limply delivered "Habanera" from Carmen, her sloppy and self-indulgent "Pa-pa-pa" duet from Mozart's The Magic Flute (with Thomas Quasthoff), and her bland "Belle nuit" from Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman (with her daughter Montserrat Martí), frustrating; recorded very late in her career, and with little of the style or...
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