Montserrat Caballe singing Turandot finale from Ultra Forte to Pianissimo (Paris, 1981) 

If anyone in the future wanted understand what Montserrat Caballe was all about and why she was one of the very greats of the 20th century, all that would have to do is listen to the complete recordings of this Turandot and the 1974 Norma from Arles. Words would not be necessary!

When she died, I was taken aback that the Queen attended her funeral. Now I can see. She was royalty herself.

Montsy effortlessly poured out glass-cutting forte with total command, then caressed phrases with unparalleled pianissimi. I just love her!

Amazing control of voice without any sign of strains!

I heard Caballe sing Turandot live in San Francisco in the late 70's. She was Perfect.

1:06 was not humanly What I sensed by my ears was a divine and flawless textbook illusion of ff -> pp at VERY HIGH range. Caballe doesn’t need a high E to earn her everlasting esteem among her peers, she never needed it.

Never again of the likes to MONTSERRAT CABALLE, the last of the great DIVAS in the 20th Century...🌹💞

A stupendous Turandot she sings here. This, and her 1974 Orange Norma, are her two greatest filmed live performances. Brava La Superba!

I am absolutely obsessed with Caballe's beauty and elegance especially as Turandot, raising her arms on those high notes (2:06), just as she does when saying "mai nessun m'avrà" in the climax of In questa Reggia.

Fantastic. God bless you Montserrat Caballe a voice of an Angel 🙏❤️xxx

I’m sure her voice could cut and polish diamonds. Wonderful. RIP MC

Her pianissimos are incredible - just floats in the stratosphere!

Fortunately I was there that evening and live it was just magic!

I'm not an opera guy but this was really good. I'm glad I listened to the whole thing because I recognized the melody from Nessun Dorma starting at 4:48. I looked it up and what do you know, Nessun Dorma is from Turandot. I became a tiny bit more of an opera guy today.

None shall sleep when Caballe's on stage. A force of nature.

We will not see or hear the like of Caballe and Giacomini again. Their training and approach as singers was radically different to that of today's singers , even if there are now some fine , interesting artistes who shine for a while. Here in this clip we have vocal mastery , greatness.

God she is extraterrestrial, fallen to us from another planet, her voice is unreal.

La Superba! One of her best. When she was on she really was on fire. My favorite soprano ever. Brava...

Caballé at over 20 years of fulgurant career deserves a high voltage Principessa ! Among Giuseppe Giacomini one of the best tenore , humble and great as fews !!!!

My favorite Turandot, my favorite Calaf.

WOW Montserrat was just fabulous ,this is absolutely awesome the best ever 👏 😀 💖

Why can’t the Paris Opera remaster and HD the f out of it and sell it? I bet it would make a lot of money for the house and it will make us Caballe fans super happy!

There is no other finale in opera more orgasmically fulfilling than this. Leaves me breathless every time. Nobody creates the same sort of epiphany out of a simple 12 notes.

The good old days, where were frequently not so good, had aspects to them which really were that good, or better. We are unlikely to ever hear anything like this again.

Amazing ! Turandot has the most spectacular finish, it’s like a fitting farewell to Puccini, fortunately his friends could finish the last little bit for him as he left behind details of what he wanted, Caballe absolutely nails this, Nessun Dorma has to be the most famous aria of all time and when Pavarotti does it, OMG !

They both are just phenomenal, Montserrat and Giuseppe

How wonderful the way she expresses her dismay and alarm when she sings her second "So il tuo nome" at 1:06. She is almost sorry she had found out and has to be the source of his death. Incredible interpretation. And consistent with an already vanquished Turandot.

Ces Turandot de Paris- et juste après à Avignon- comptent parmi mes plus grands souvenirs d'opéra. Certes il manquait quelques consonnes, et certains biais pouvaient paraître contestables. Mais le rôle était arraché à des grands voix impressionnantes mais trop marmoréennes: la puissance de Caballé, bien réelle, mais aussi le moelleux, la féminité du timbre, rendaient à Turandot son humanité blessée, une fragilité, une humanité. Je puis vous assurer qu'après cette incroyable note finale, le public du Palais Garnier EXPLOSAIT d'allégresse et d'admiration.

I didnt know she could sing like this

Montserrat Caballé, sin duda, una de las grandes Turandot.👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👌🏻❤️👍🏻

The pianissimos… perfection!

A mythical being in our midst so transcendent it is at times hard to fathom ...

Absolutely breathtaking! She will be forever in our hearts!

I treasure as well the memory of her incredible recitals at Carnegie Hall in the 70s and 80s-unforgettable. At one she sang In Questa Reggia as an encore followed by the Casta Diva!

I love Turandot with Montserrat Caball'e......so amazing pianissimo 💞💞💞💞

Монтсеррат Кабалье гений вокала!

Caballé une Turandot d'exception !!

I've watched this clip so many times and it is really one of the great performances of the 20th century. I would not have believed that Caballe's attack would be so consistently strong, without a beat or stridency, and the way she sculpts the phrases illuminate the music of the role like no other singer has done. And I've heard all the great recorded Turandots in on recordings or live. Giacomini is an ideal forthright partner. How the singers and chorus negotiated those stairs is extraordinary!

la Superba DIVA!

Extraordinaire Turandot avec l'inoubliable Caballe ,alors au faite de ses moyens vocaux.Elle fut et demeure une voix qui m'a bouleversé pour toute ma vie...

Super turandot with monserrat caballe one of the best

Wow, what a voice and she was so sweet I wish to hear her voice in real. With love to a music 🎶 big opera fan

Spectacular

A stupendous Turandot, yes…but let’s not forget that Giacomini was equally powerful as Calaf. I can’t imagine a duo that was their equal.

One of maybe 3 ever who NAILED Turandot AND Liu!

Que maravilla!!!!

I saw 3 of these performances, wonderful.

Extraordinário!!! Grande área da ópera turandot( nessum dorma) impressionante🇧🇷👏👏👏👏👏😍😍😍😍

This was a bit later in her performing career when the voice had lost some of its luster but…her appearances as Turandot in San Francisco and Paris in the late 1970s were magnificent.

Bravissima una voce stupenda pianissimi da brividi, ma non capisco una parola di quel che canta.

Фантастично!!!!Брависсимо!!!!

Both were great !

Superb.

Wow

Imagine doing all that for 3 hours at a stretch with a huge headdress, gobs of makeup and 20+ lbs. of costume, under baking lights.

Siempre impresionante👏👏👏👏👏👏!!!!!!!!!

MAGNIFIQUE!

Extraordinary 🎉. Wonderful talent 😮

Fantastic!

Amazing!

This video is a treasure ❤❤

Όντως είναι καταπληκτική κι αυτό το ξέρουμε όλοι. Αλλά δυστυχώς, ο Giacomini, ο τελευταίος από τούς μεγάλους δραματικούς τενόρους, παραμένει σχεδόν άγνωστος στους πολλούς, παρά το ότι είχε μία λαμπρή καριέρα και πολλές εγγραφές, στούντιο και ζωντανές, όπως εδώ. Δεν μπορώ να το καταλάβω. Να είσαι καλά, φίλε μου.

This passage is just stellar. At the later side of her career, other voices for sure much better suited for the role. But wow what a performance, in her own way. One of the true greats.

Wow, I never knew the Ms Caballe sang Turandot! Is there a full opera video available? And I see Leona Mitchell was Liu, what a cast! Bravi!

Brava Caballe

Ein einmaliges Sängerfest !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maravillosa Caballé,magnífico Giacomini

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Menos mal que está grabado. Si no, nos seguirían tratando de vender bobadas sobre lo mala que fue la Turandot de Caballé. De acuerdo que, si quieres un sargento de carabineros y no una princesa china, a lo mejor se adapta más, no sé, Dimitrova al papel (a la que admiro profundamente, no se me entienda mal), pero la creación que hace Caballé en esta ópera es digna de pasar a la historia como la mejor, sin ninguna duda. Y no hay más que ver y oír, no hace falta que ningún cursi fanatizado nos explique cómo lo blanco se convierte en negro, que el cielo es verde en realidad y que el mar, a pesar de su aspecto, en el fondo es amarillo. Los que tenemos ojos y oídos vemos y oímos. Lo demás, puñetero chamullo.

Excelente...❤ Deus a tenha...

Imperial !

If only this were in more high resolution.

What is it that is lost today? Sopranos today have this weird way of singing vibrato that renders their notes virtually pitches. Sutherland, Caballe, Price, Callas (except extremely high), etc. all managed to keep the core sound of their voice through the top and as someone else said "like laser beams". Today isn't really a problem of a spread vibrato. It literally sounds like there is no pitch, just a high pitched sound (Angela Meade is a supreme example of this horror). In any event, Caballe sounds amazing in this video.

Was this in an inside theatre or outside theatre?

OperaMyWorld podrías subir el perfomance completo...a mi me sabe a poco, por favor...gracias

Questa è l'OPERA

2:06

Who was the Tenor??

小梅太夫感ある

Mr. Mercury was right