Montserrat Caballé (Catalan: [munsəˈrat kəβəˈʎe]; born 12 April 1933) is a Spanish operatic soprano. She has sung a wide variety of roles, but is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi. She came to the attention of a much wider audience in 1987 when she sang "Barcelona", a duet with Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the rock band Queen, which was inspired by her home city and later used as a theme song for the 1992 Summer Olympics in that city.
María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch was born in Barcelona and studied music at the Liceu Conservatory, and singing technique with Napoleone Annovazzi, Eugenia Kemény and Conchita Badía. She graduated with a gold medal in 1954. She subsequently moved to Basel, Switzerland, where she made her professional debut in 1956 as Mimì in Puccini's La bohème. She became part of the Basel Opera company between 1957 and 1959, singing a repertoire that included Mozart (Erste Dame in The Magic Flute) and Richard Strauss (Salome) in German, unusual for Spanish singers, but which proved useful for her next engagement at the Bremen Opera (1959–1962).
You were once my one companion . . .
you were all that mattered . . .
You were once a friend and father,
then my world was shattered . . .
Wishing you were somehow here again . . .
wishing you were somehow near . . .
Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed,
somehow you would be here . . .
Wishing I could hear your voice again . . .
knowing that I never would . . .
Dreaming of you won't help me to do
all that you dreamed I could . . .
Passing bells and sculpted angels,
cold and monumental,
seem, for you the wrong companions -
you were warm and gentle . . .
Too many years fighting back tears . . .
Why can't the past just die . . .?
Wishing you were somehow here again . . .
knowing we must say goodbye . . .
Try to forgive, teach me to live . . .
give me the strength to try . . .
No more memories, no more silent tears . . .
No more gazing across the wasted years . . .
Help me say goodbye.