@bestofopera.en: Follow @bestofopera.en for the voices that refuse to be forgotten. 🎵 "O mio babbino caro" - "Montserrat Caballé" "O mio babbino caro, mi piace, è bello, bello." "Oh, my dear daddy, I like him, he's handsome, so handsome." 20 seconds on a single note. That was her voice. The Washington Post reported, in its 2018 obituary, that Montserrat Caballé held notes for 20 seconds. The critics spoke of the same breath: "fabulous breath control" and "an unrivalled sense of bel canto line". Her other trademark was the opposite of power: high notes sung very softly, almost in a whisper, "with utter confidence and clarity". One critic called it "the most luminous pianissimo in the business". In 1965, the New York Times critic heard in her a dark tone, "almost like that of a viola". Years later, the critic Tim Page told NPR it was "the single most glorious sound" he had ever heard from a human voice. All of this began on one night. On April 20, 1965, Carnegie Hall in New York called on Caballé to replace Marilyn Horne, who was pregnant, in a concert performance of "Lucrezia Borgia", by Donizetti. It was her American debut. She got an ovation, and her international career began there. Here there is no replacement and no shared stage. She sings standing, alone in front of the orchestra, and the camera moves from the wide shot to her face and the violins, from the introduction to the next-to-last phrase of the aria. The New York Times critic heard a viola in this voice. Which instrument do you hear? 🎼 Work: O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi, 1918) 🎹 Composer: Giacomo Puccini 🎤 Performer: Montserrat Caballé 🇪🇸 🎬 Recording: not identified Written 108 years ago. It stopped you today. #BestOfOpera #OMioBabbinoCaro #MontserratCaballe #Opera

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Monday 26 October 2026 14:30:02 GMT