Montserrat Caballe masterclass 2015

In this video, Montserrat Caballe explained the importance of breath control as that is the basic technique for singing. She said this was what she had learnt and would teach, as one day these singers will also teach others how to breathe.
She explained the importance of engaging the back as part of breath control. She said the same technique applies in the bedroom: when a man enters a woman, he pushes from the back not the front. She joked that when she had difficulty in the bathroom (especially after the two operations she had the previous year which left her in a wheelchair), she used this same technique for singing to solve the problem.
Madame Caballe first made the participants lie on the ground and put a 20kg weight on the abdomen of each person. They have to learn to control the lower abdomen muscle. She asked the singers to expand their diaphragm and keep the weight up for 3 minutes, as that is the kind of stamina that singers would need to maintain support and air flow in order to sing long phrases and legato well. This helps to produce a natural sound, like floating instead of being forced. Most participants could not manage this task for this long. Madame Caballe explained that with practice, their support will improve. In fact, she used to do this exercise (i.e. lying down and keep the weight on her lower abdomen up for 3 minutes) everyday to strengthen her support muscle. That's the secret to her legendary floating sound and legato.