Eleanor Steber
Steber was one of the most important sopranos in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s, with a sweet, yet full voice and outstanding versatility. Her recitals were practically vocal pentathlons for their wide range of styles and vocal demands, and the day she sang Desdemona in Verdi's Otello for a Met matinee and Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte that evening is still legendary. She is perhaps most famous for her creation of the title role in Samuel Barber's Vanessa (actually as a substitute for Sena Jurinac), and for commissioning his Knoxville: Summer of 1915. In addition to opera and recitals, she was a frequent guest on The Voice of Firestone's television broadcasts. However, her career outlasted her voice, and most of her later appearances and recordings were gravely technically flawed.
Her mother was an accomplished amateur singer who strongly encouraged her to study and sing in school and community shows. She entered the New England Conservatory of Music, originally intending to major in piano, but her voice teacher, William Whitney, persuaded her to focus on singing instead. Her opera debut was in 1936 in a WPA production of Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, a demanding role indeed for a 21-year-old. She won the 1940 Metropolitan Auditions of the Air and made her Met debut later that year as Sophie in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. Her easy upper range, coupled with a rich, smoothly produced lower voice made her a natural for Mozart roles such as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Pamina in The Magic Flute, and even Konstanze in the Abduction from the Seraglio, with its vocal pyrotechnics. As her voice matured, she sang some of the spinto roles in both the German and Italian repertoire, including Tosca, Desdemona, Elsa in Lohengrin, and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. She also sang Marie in the first Metropolitan production of Alban Berg's Wozzeck in 1959. Her relationship with the Met was not an easy one, for many reasons on both sides, and she turned her attention more and more toward recitals and concerts during the 1960s. She and her husband opened and managed a record label, ST/AND (combining their names), but when they attempted to expand, it was a dismal flop. She made some appearances on Broadway, mostly in supporting parts, and also gave one of the notorious bathhouse concerts in New York in 1973.
© TiVo
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Discography
20 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Hector Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Les Nuits d'été (II-VI)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, Eleanor Steber, New York Philharmonic, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Symfonieën - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 nov. 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini - Tosca
Eleanor Steber, Carlo Bergonzi, Kurt Adler, Orchestra del Teatro Metropolitan
Opera - Released by G.O.P. on 31 mrt. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Samuel Barber Historical Recordings (1935-1960)
Opera - Released by West Hill Radio Archives on 20 mei 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Les Nuits d'été Op. 7 & La Captive & Zaide
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 22 apr. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Traviata (La) (Metropolitan Opera) (1949)
Eleanor Steber, Giuseppe Di Stefano, New York Metropolitan Opera Chorus, New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Giuseppe Antonicelli
Volledige opera's - Released by Naxos on 12 nov. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs by 20th Century American Composers, Vol. 1 & 2
Mildred Miller, Donald Gramm, Eleanor Steber, John McCollum, Edwin Biltcliffe, Richard Cumming
Klassiek - Released by Phoenix USA on 1 jan. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod: Faust (Mono version)
Eugene Conley, Eleanor Steber, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fausto Cleva
Klassiek - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Samuel Barber: Vanessa (1958), Vol. 1
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Eleanor Steber
Opera - Released by Classical Moments on 1 jan. 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
STRAUSS, R.: Rosenkavalier (Der) (Stevens, Steber / Metropolitan Opera / Reiner) (1949)
Concertmuziek - Released by Naxos on 1 jan. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Les plus beaux airs d'Otello (Mono Version)
Eleanor Steber, Ramón Vinay, Fausto Cleva
Klassiek - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Melodies & Overtures - Debussy: Iberia
Dimitri Mitropoulos, Eleanor Steber
Klassiek - Released by Urania on 11 aug. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi Heroines
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 19 jul. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Il mito dell' opera: Carlo Bergonzi
Carlo Bergonzi, Artist Unknown, Eleanor Steber, Rita Orlandi Malaspina, Danica Mastilovic
Opera - Released by Bongiovanni on 1 mrt. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
George Gershwin: Highlights from "Porgy & Bess" (1935 - 1950)
Robert Russell Bennett, Robert Merrill, Eleanor Steber
Klassiek - Released by Classical Moments on 30 apr. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, L. Van: Missa Solemnis (Philharmonic Symphony, Walter) (1948)
Koormuziek - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 apr. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
An Evening At Carnegie Hall
Klassiek - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 jun. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Op. 123: Missa Solemnis - Beethoven
Nell Tangeman, Eleanor Steber, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Opera - Released by OperaPrima-Carillon on 23 apr. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Samuel Barber: Vanessa (1958), Vol. 2
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Eleanor Steber
Opera - Released by Classical Moments on 1 jan. 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebendige Vergangenheit - Eleanor Steber
Klassiek - Released by Preiser Records on 28 mrt. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christian Science Hymnal
Humour/Spoken Word - Released by Jasnet Records on 4 aug. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo