Montserrat Caballé obituary

Yesterday on The Times

Grand diva of the opera stage who formed an unlikely but brilliant partnership with Freddie Mercury performing the anthemic hit Barcelona
Montserrat Caballé performs at the Liceu opera house, Barcelona, in 2004 REX FEATURES

Montserrat Caballé had long been acclaimed as the greatest operatic diva since Maria Callas, but she became a global superstar in the 1980s when she teamed up with the British rock star Freddie Mercury to record Barcelona, a homage to her home city that became the searing anthem of the 1992 Olympic Games.

It was an unlikely partnership, the svelte figure of Mercury and and majestic bulk of Caballé, sometimes known as “La Superba”, but the song became a worldwide hit, demonstrating clearly the musical parallels between opera and rock and introducing her powerful voice to a generation who had previously been unaware of her legendary status in the operatic firmament.