Soprano From Wheeling Earns Her Way to the Met.
On Monday evening, March 25, 1940, the Hearst News Service ran the following headline nationwide:
West Virginia Soprano Wins Met Opera’s “Auditions of the Air-1940”
The article reported: “On this evening’s broadcast, The New York Metropolitan Opera announced the female winner of this year’s prestigious ‘Auditions of the Air’ contest. The winner is a 25-year-old soprano who grew up in West Virginia and trained at the New England Conservatory of Music. Wheeling, W.Va. native Eleanor Steber, a graduate of that city’s Warwood High School, has won a year’s contract to perform and tour with the country’s most famous opera company.”
Meanwhile, in Wheeling, residents were thrilled to have an “overnight” celebrity shedding a positive spotlight on their city and state. In the 1940s, the music most associated with the Mountain State was often characterized as “hillbilly” rather than “highbrow.” Regardless, by winning that national contest, Eleanor Steber instantly became a source of civic pride and inspiration in West Virginia.
The following year, Steber was invited back for the Met’s 1941 season. This began a remarkable run of 22 consecutive seasons as a featured performer at the Metropolitan Opera.
As her star rose, Steber was invited to be a featured performer on the landmark radio program The Voice of Firestone. Through this program, she became a popular national radio personality and, later, a pioneering performer in the history of American television. Steber became known worldwide for her full and powerful voice, her ability to master a wide variety of roles, and her stellar work ethic.
At a time when opera was a grand part of American popular culture, she was a true international star. Upon her induction into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2013, it was noted: “Eleanor Steber is considered one of the greatest singers of the 20th century and was called by many opera critics the greatest Mozart singer of them all.”
Eleanor Steber was born on July 17, 1914, above her grandfather’s general store at 33rd and Eoff streets in Wheeling, WV, to William and Ida Steber. The family soon moved to nearby Warwood, where her father became president of the Bank of Warwood.
Her mother, an accomplished amateur singer, taught her daughter voice and piano. Steber attended many concerts in Pittsburgh, and her family encouraged her to join school singing groups and community shows. She graduated from Warwood High School in 1932.
Eleanor later studied at the New England Conservatory of Music (NECM) in Boston. Although she originally intended to major in piano, her voice teacher, William Whitney, persuaded her to focus on singing. She received a Bachelor of Music from the NECM in 1938.
Early in her career, she performed frequently in radio, oratorio, and church settings. Steber’s opera debut was in a WPA production of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, where she appeared as Senta—a demanding role for such a young singer. In 1939, she moved to New York City to study with Paul Althouse, who became a significant influence. While living in NYC, she decided to audition for the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious “Auditions of the Air-1940.”
The “Auditions of the Air” were established in 1935 to find and promote developing young opera singers. Winners received a cash prize and a one-year contract with the Metropolitan Opera. After a rigorous elimination process, one man and one woman were declared winners each year.
When her initial contract expired, Steber signed on for the Met’s 1941 season. This launched a tenure spanning from 1940 through 1961. During her career at the Met, she was cast in an astounding 55 major roles and appeared in 404 performances. She was celebrated for her large, flexible, “silvery” voice and her lyrical portrayals of Mozart’s heroines.
In 1947, Steber became a regular performer on the NBC radio program The Voice of Firestone, which featured singers performing selections from opera and operetta. In this capacity, she earned a place in the history of American broadcasting. In the fall of 1949, The Voice of Firestone was simulcast as a national, coast-to-coast television broadcast—the first commercial television program to go nationwide. Consequently, when Eleanor Steber opened that broadcast, she became the first female singer in American history to perform on national commercial television.
In the early 1960s, Steber left the Metropolitan Opera to tour the world, performing at festivals throughout Europe, Canada, and Asia.
Upon retiring from the stage, she joined the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music and later the Juilliard School in New York City. She also taught at the Philadelphia Music Academy and maintained a private voice studio. She took particular pride in teaching master classes at her alma mater in Boston.
Eleanor Steber was always proud of her role in “democratizing the arts.” Through her many radio and TV appearances, she was credited with bringing high art into American living rooms, making “highbrow” culture accessible to the masses.
The people of West Virginia remained deeply proud of her achievements. In 1940, following her “Auditions of the Air” victory, Governor William Conley had the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad designate a train as the “Steber Special” to bring her home to Wheeling.
That year, Steber performed the first of over 20 annual “homecoming” concerts for the people of Wheeling and Ohio County. In 1960, during the 20th anniversary of her Met debut, she was given the Key to the City of Wheeling.
Eleanor Steber died in October 1990 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery near Wheeling. Her personal piano was donated by her family to the Chambers Performing Arts Center at Wheeling Park High School. In 2013, she was posthumously inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
Recommended Listening
Eleanor Steber. The Voice of Firestone. Television version of 1950 broadcast of the landmark radio/TV show. Steber was a regular performer. Watch the full show HERE.
Eleanor Steber- “Ave Maria” on The Ed Sullivan Show. December of 1950. HERE
“All the Things You Are”- Eleanor Steber on live television, The Voice of Firestone, 1953. A tribute to Jerone Kern, showing Steber’s versatility as a popular singer. HERE
Sources:
Ohio County Public Library
The Wheeling Intelligencer
WV Music Hall of Fame
Wikipedia
AllMusic
Hearst New Service
Bruce Duffie
