This outstanding singer's concert at the Ukraine Palace of Culture drew the entire Establishment. At long last Kyiv lived up to its official status as a European capital.
The best evidence of this status was, of course, the very fact of the world operatic star's arrival. But perhaps even more significant was the atmosphere at the concert. The audience boasted the capital's political, business, and cultural elite, ranging from the Prime Minister to leaders of political parties to influential journalists to the cream of the beau monde. People were well dressed, and not only in strict conformity with protocol. This time the sight they presented was typical of any Western gala; one could see men wearing dinner jackets rubbing shoulders with those sporting T-shirts. In a word, each and all came in keeping with his own style. A positive symptom which suddenly manifested itself at the capital's largest concert hall. Style and tastes differed, but all were united by sincere admiration of the singer.
Monserrat Caballe is a magnetic woman. Hers is a charm that comes naturally yet defies all epithets like “goddess atop the Olympus of Glory,” etc., with which the concert organizers showered her. Seeing and listening to her, one became acutely aware that all such epithets and metaphors are false and trite, because genuine talent is a miracle from above. Yes, she looks regal, always so serene and confident. Even at her age and despite her ailing legs (she never makes a secret of either) she looks the beautiful, big, noble, and loving mother of a large family, a classical type which is still so popular, both on stage and in real life.
Of course, the emcee, struggling with his playboy image, letting off broadsides of banalities aimed at the “divine Monserrat” and big-eyed beaus in the audience, had to act his part, for this was also part of the tradition. Although he could have spared his breath. What makes this 65-year-old woman so irresistibly bewitching is not only her voice but also the skill with which she plays this instrument bestowed by nature, the more so that, unlike violins made by Stradivari or Amati, it does not gain in value with age.
Continuing with her concert tours, even though on a limited scale now, Monserrat Caballe also shows tremendous creative courage. Needless to say, music lovers in Kyiv should feel extremely grateful to the singer and her impresario, all those who had the fortunate idea to invite her over, giving them an opportunity to watch and hear one of the most beautiful operatic legends of this century.
Our creative intellectuals and ranking bureaucrats were also taught a lesson in how glory and noble birth could exist without any arrogance whatsoever. Recognized as a living genius, she thought it proper to apologize to the audience for a delay in the performance caused by security arrangements, as people were rudely frisked and checked with metal detectors before being allowed to enter the Palace. The organizers did not bother to make the procedure even look civilized. In fact, the microphone was not even switched on and the operatic queen, watching the interpreter getting hoarse trying to convey her brief address to the audience, calmly remarked, “Technical problem.” She is so natural, so very human. The audience must have felt all this, so much so that when after the last number the leader of the Greens, presenting her with a bouquet, tried to take advantage of the situation and make a propaganda speech people cut him short with catcalls and whistling.
Before the concert certain skeptics predicted that the prima donna would sing a few areas at best and the rest of the show would be carried on by the accompanying soloists. Caballe performed ten pieces, every time walking out on stage with her cane, placing it carefully by the music stand, and most remarkably, she did not stick to standard operatic hits (she sang Verdi only as an encore). The second part of the concert consisted of Spanish music only. I do not know whether it was a patriotic gesture (she started her career in Basel, her first triumph came in New York, her only tour of the USSR was with the La Scala, she sang from the world's biggest operatic stages), but I am sure that Caballe uses her singular gift to popularize her national music which she loves and to guide and sponsor young talents. And her taste deserves separate notice. I think that her decision to perform together with her daughter Monserrat Marti was dictated not only by maternal affection. It has been a long time since I last heard such heartfelt young soprano rendition of Thais from Jules Massenet's title opera. Begging the world star's pardon, I thought that her daughter sounded even better. Jose Collado, the conductor, was at his courteous and madly temperamental best - from what I know the audience always gets to his head like strong wine, making him affect overly dramatized postures, but once he raises his baton he is serious and concentration incarnate. His performance with Ukraine's National Symphony Orchestra justified the emcee's every word and he called Collado “one of the world's best.”
Monserrat's concert in Kyiv was actually a stopover before Moscow where she was to appear in a premiere performance of Vangelis's oratorio “Come with Me”, a grand show with Kremlin chimes specially included by the composer into the music. But for the world star and her beloved young performers (in Kyiv the program included Javier Palasios, a gifted tenor, and Yelena Obraztsova's daughter, mezzo soprano Yelena Makarova) the Ukrainian capital's experience was by no means of minor importance. Another evidence that glory comes to those that hold their professional dignity dear.
Photo by Andriy Mosienko:
Monserrat overpowered the establishment with talent







