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What was obvious was that during those years, his family, which belonged to the middle class, experienced great difficulties. Long after, when she was wrapped in the jewels and furs that are a prerogative of the diva, Mrs. Caballé remembered the time when she owned only one dress. For the sneers of her classmates, she wore him to school every day for a year.
His parents, Carles Caballé i Borrás and Anna Folch, loved music and, listening to their collection of opera discs, the young Montserrat was enamored. At age 8, she decided to learn "A Bel Di", the air of Cio-Cio-San from "Madama Butterfly" by Puccini, and she listened to him by singing for her family.
It was clear that the child had a remarkable talent. Although her parents did not have the means to do so, she soon began studying at the Liceu Conservatory of Music in Barcelona, first at the piano and then at the voice.
Eugenia Kemeny, her main voice teacher, gave her students a full year of vocal exercises and respiratory training before she could start real music. According to Ms. Caballé, this training allowed her to continue her career as long as she did.
At the age of 16, her father became ill and could no longer provide for the family, forcing her to withdraw from the conservatory. She worked for almost a year in a tissue factory before attracting the sponsorship of wealthy bosses from Barcelona, who agreed to support Montserrat and his family. As a token of gratitude, she returned annually throughout her career to sing in Barcelona.
At the age of 20, Ms. Caballé graduated from the conservatory with her gold medal and began auditions with Italian opera companies. Nervous and unproven, she failed, inspiring an agent, she reminded him, to suggest that she give up singing and find a husband.
She tried her luck in Switzerland and joined the Basel Opera in 1956, playing small roles until she was called to sing Mimì instead of a soprano. She spent the rest of the 50s and early 60s singing all over Europe.
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