Presided over by the family of the soprano, to the liturgical event has been attended by some 600 people, among them many authorities

The eternal voice of Caballé fly over his funeral

Dies Montserrat Caballé at the age of 85, a soprano off-road which brought the opera to the next level

The cheers will be made to wait. Nor were they necessary. Because when you turned off the echo of the last note, or director or soloists sought the recognition of any audience. With the excitement still hormigueándole under the skin, what they did was walk a few steps, and melt in tears, a tight hug with the family that occupied the first row.

So has been completed, after noon, the act by which the city of Barcelona has dismissed his grand lady of the opera, the soprano Montserrat Caballé, who died the 6th of October. Organized by the family of the artist in collaboration with the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the act has taken the stage as the cathedral of Barcelona and he has been attended by some 650 people, including relatives, friends, authorities and representatives of the cultural world, although there were also two notable absences: the president of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, and the mayor’s Ada Colau.

Contrasting with the austere funeral ceremony held in the les Corts Funeral parlour, two days after the death of the artist, today has been an act “emotional” and “beautiful”, as the adjectives most used by the participants. Someone called it “breathtaking”, too. “In the end, she has received the farewell he deserved,” said a famous music lover.

The ceremony began at 1300 hours on point with the entry into the temple of the cardinal of Barcelona, Joan Josep Omella, while the orchestra of the Liceu, located in the transept of the temple, just in front of the scales of access to the crypt, he interpreted passages of the Adagio, by Samuel Barber.

Accompanied in the prebisterio by the Dean and the Canon of the Cathedral, Josep Ramon Pérez and Josep Serra, respectively, the Cardinal Omella has meant the art and the personality of the soprano, which he called “an ambassador of our land in any corner of the planet.” She also said that it was “a woman prudent and attitudes conciliatory, who was born in the bosom of a humble family and reached the pinnacle of fame thanks to his effort and perseverance” and that “we will always remember his performances in the Sagrada Familia, Santa Maria del Mar and his tears at the fire at the Liceu”.

In a side location, to the right of the orchestra, the family of the soprano, with her widower Bernabe Marti, and their children, Montserrat and Barnabas, in the first term, followed with manifest emotion to the act. On the other side of the transept, in the area reserved to the authorities, were the ministers of Culture and Territorial Policy and Public Function, José Guirao and Meritxell Batet, respectively, and the councillor for Culture, Laura Borràs, in addition to the president of the Foundation of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Salvador Alemany; and the director-general of the INAEM, Amaya de Miguel, the first vice-president of the Bureau of the Parliament, Josep Costa; to the deputy and spokesman of the Popular Party, Dolors Montserrat; the deputy mayor Jaume Asens; the general secretary of Culture, Maria Dolors Portús; the head of Culture of the Diputació of Barcelona, Oriol Lladó, and the new director general of the Liceu, Valentí Oviedo.

The event also counted with the presence of numerous figures of the cultural and musical, including the former artistic director of the Liceu and current maintainer of the Teatro Real in Madrid, Joan Matabosch, president of the Fundació Orfeó Català, Mariona Carulla, and the president of the Fundació Cultural Castell de Peralada, Isabel Suqué.

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