When Barcelona won the Summer Olympics Games in 1992, Mercury was able to fulfill one of his dreams by recording an album with Caballe; called Barcelona. Mercury produced the album with Mike Moran and would send recordings of her part to Caballe for her to practice as they had very little time to practice together.
The song starts with an orchestral introduction, which fades and is followed by Mercury and Caballe singing alternately their solo lines, sometimes merging into duet. When singing the chrous "Barcelona" and a few other parts for the studio version, Mercury dubs over his voice in his usual multi-tracking styles. Mercury leads the song whereas Cabelle provides a powerful background soprano.
The song has been described as a combination of pop and opera singing which accentuated their differences. With Mercury's voice, it is all about articulation whilst Caballe concentrates on her tone making her lines more difficult to comprehend, especially as she sings in both Spanish and English.
The song was originally release in October 1987 and reached number 8 in the UK chart. It was one of the most successful solo singles of Freddie Mercury's career. The album of the same name was released at the same time and reached number 25 in the UK album chart. Sadly, Mercury death in November in 1991, he never got to see the Summer Olympics for which it was written for. The single re-entered the charts and peaked at number 2 in the UK chart in 1992.
For me, there is something in the duet that makes the makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and brings tears to my eyes. I think it is because I love music that defies boundaries of who should be listening to what. Opera, Pop, Rock or hip hop should be accessible to all and when two tribes combine music styles in this way, there is something to be applauded about it.
Anyway, enough from me, let's hear the song:
Barcelona by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe
Written by Freddie and Mike Moron
Released: October 1997
Album: Barcelona
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