Montserrat Caballe - Beyond Music

Montserrat Caballe - The Art of Bel Canto VAI DVD 4308Music of Granados, Donizetti, Bellini. Orchestre Philharmonique de l"ORFT/Cillario. 43 min.	The Very Best of Montserrat Caballé	Bellini - Norma / Patane, Caballe, Vickers, Veasey, Theatre Antique d'Orange	Montserrat Cabale & Marilyn Horne Concert / Philharmonie Hall, Munich Two great stars of the operatic stage, Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé and American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, give magnificent performances in these superb gala concerts from the Philharmonie Hall, Munich, featuring a variety of popular arias and duets: Sposa son dispre...	Barcelona
Montserrat Caballé: Ultimate Collection	Verdi - La Traviata This superb 2006 production of the Los Angeles Opera's La Traviata stars Renée Fleming, who joins the ranks of the elite handful of sopranos whose vocal and acting talents make their portrayals memorable. Her Violetta Valéry is a vulnerable figure torn between self-indulgence a...	Jose Carreras & Montserrat Caballe	The Berlin Concert - Live from Waldbuhne Sparks fly in this video of the all-star concert from Berlin's equivalent of the Hollywood Bowl in July 2006, part of the World Cup festivities. The electricity is generated by the all-star trio of tenors Placido Domingo and Rolando Villazon and soprano Anna Netrebko in a program...	Vincenzo Bellini - I Puritani It's hard to imagine a video opera collection without this superbly sung MET production of Bellini's I Puritani. Not that it's perfect by any means, but its excellences--most especially Anna Netrebko's electrifying singing and acting of Elvira--banish carping about other aspects...

Response to the lowest rating
To the person who gave the lowest rating - If you had bothered to read the description of the CD you would have realized that it was a biographical documentary and NOT musical content. I was so pleased to find biographical material on the person with such an exquisite, incomparable voice. In my opinion it rates at least a 6 and would get a 10 from me if it had even 25% music content to go with the biog.

Montserrat - plus music!
This was my initial purchase at Amazon.com...and it certainly lived up to expectations! Purchased as a gift for a Montserrat Caballe fan, Beyond the Music has added a personal dimension that makes the music even more enjoyable. Happy listening to all who appreciate Caballe's artistry!

Excellent
This is a comprehensive biography of Caballe the artist and woman. And it is superb. There are several examples of her singing, contributions by colleagues, thoughtful opinions on her career and vocal technique, and highly exciting clips of Caballe in action. The 1974 Orange "Casta Diva" and her 1966 Paris debut concert are jewels. She really is a exceptional singer, arguably the most beautiful operatic female voice of the 20th century. Her sheer number of stage roles, extended repertory, and vocal longevity are astonishing. No other singer, not even Callas and Sutherland, had such an extensive repertory. The biography is of very good quality, artistic and technical. I especially loved the combination of images of Barcelona (my favorite city in the world) to the sound of Caballe singing Catalan songs. There is one inconsistency: Caballe is filmed saying that in 1957 she missed Maria Callas as Norma in Cologne because the Bremen Opera director didn't give her permission to go. Montserrat was so furious with Herr Direktor that she smashed the ink tray on his desk! Correction: Maria Callas actually sang La Sonnambula, not Norma, in Cologne in 1957. Furthermore, the 1994 Caballe biography book mentions that she was furious with the director and smashed his ink tray because he had refused to give her insurance money for her father's appendicitis operation. The best thing in this film is found in the bonus tracks, under "Caballe sings Massenet". Here we see her in Rome during Easter 1999, singing an extract from Massenet's LA VIERGE. Despite her age (66) she is simply magnificent here, the piece itself unbearably, torturingly beautiful. She is visibly moved to tears at its conclusion and will move you to tears, too. This bonus track by itself is worth buying the DVD. Highly recommended.

Of course...beyond music.
Fantastica Caballe.We like her a lot.Now with this documentary,we got to know her even better.She's not only a soprano,she's a whole beauty of music.We have also a cd,Eternal Caballe where therein Hijo de la luna(Son of the moon)a divine masterpiece performed by a feminine beauty lyric opera singer...Monserrat Caballe,muy bonita,Caballe,me gusta.

A touching and beautiful biography of Caballe on DVD !
Atlast a documentary of the world's greatest soprano on DVD!Montserrat Caballe is the most famous living soprano in the world.She is admired from russia to america and everywhere inbetween,which you get to see as you watch this dvd.The picture on this dvd looks fabulous,it may even be filmed in high definition.I was very pleased with the 16:9 picture and the great sound.You get to follow Caballe as she travels all around the world,and you get introduced to Caballe's family and many of her admirers.Her husband is the great tenor,Benarbe Marti,and you get to see some great interviews with Caballe and her brother(who is also her manager)as well as her daughter,montserrat marti who is a great soprano in her own right.Caballe talks alot about both her family and her country(spain),both she tells us has given her the strengh and tranquality to keep up her busy international carear for almost 50 years.You also get to see many lovely photos of caballe,and some performance clips.This is a must have for any Caballe fan.My only other comments is it should have been another hour,and that the dvd should have had extras,like complete Caballe performances.Still it is well worth getting at 90 minutes long and at such a reasonable price.Caballe I love you,and your generous spirit and your most beautiful voice will live in my heart forever.