CONTRIBUTORS : Luis Angel Catoni / Shawn Chua / Claudia Weber / Tim Evans
LUIS ANGEL CATONI (barbiere@bellsouth.net),
who had seen Caballe in some 40 operatic roles and many concerts and recitals,
wrote the following article.
aballe's successes at the Liceu were legendary.
Not only was the performance usually extended fifteen or more minutes at
the end due to the audience's applause, but the ovations after each aria
could be measured by the minutes. When she joined other Spanish stars at
performances at the Liceu, it was not infrequent for the performance, that
began (in the 60 's and 70 's) at 9:30PM, to end around 1:30AM. And after
that most nights she would stay an hour or more signing autographs and photos
for her admirers.
he was the subject of some very special tributes
at the Liceu. In 1966 she was given the Liceu's gold medal. In 1969 she
was the subject of a very special tribute after her performance of Maria
Stuarda. The stage was flooded with flower bouquets, and pigeons were let
loose to fly in the house (no "accidents" happened!). In 1977
with a performance of Salome she achieved her 100 th performance in the
house. Another big night with more pigeons. In 1982, during a concert with
Jose Carreras, the public spontaneously celebrated the 20 th anniversary
of her singing in the house (and Carreras's 10 th as leading tenor). Billboards
painted on big pieces of cloth were hung from the upper balcony.
n 1986 the audience also tributed her 25 th
anniversary. For the occasion she sang a concert and the tickets were free,
with the house's artistic director, Lluis Andreu, personally at the box
office supervising the dealing of tickets (two per person) to those who
waited in line for many hours to get them.
ANY FAVOURITE CABALLE STORIES, PHOTOS AND PERSONAL ANECDOTES? I AM SEEKING CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PUBLICATION WITHIN THIS WEBSITE.