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Maxine Stellman

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Maxine Stellman
A young white woman with short dark hair
Maxine Stellman, from a 1936 newspaper
Born
Maxine Elliot Stellman

May 13, 1906
Brattleboro, Vermont
DiedJune 24, 1972
Brattleboro, Vermont
Other namesMaxine Stellman Caruso
OccupationOpera singer

Maxine Elliot Stellman Caruso (May 13, 1906 – June 24, 1972) was an American opera singer, a soprano with the Metropolitan Opera in the 1930s and 1940s.

Early life and education

Stellman was from Brattleboro, Vermont,[1] the daughter of Wilhelm Elliot Stellman and Lillian Lucinda Miller Stellman. Her father was a machine manufacturer.[2] She graduated from Juilliard in 1934.[3] She stayed at Juilliard for graduate studies with Belle Julie Soudant,[4] Marcella Sembrich[5] and Florence Page Kimball.[6]

Career

Stellman was a featured soloist with the Chautauqua Institution's symphony orchestra as a young woman.[7] She was the female winner of the 1937 Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air, a talent contest program which awarded a cash prize and a singing role in a spring production.[6]

Stellman's appearances with the Metropolitan Opera included soprano roles in Orfeo ed Euridice (1936),[8] The Man Without a Country (1937), Aïda (1938),[9] Madama Butterfly (1940),[10] Die Walküre (1940),[11] Il Trovatore and The Marriage of Figaro (1941),[12] Manon (1942),[13] Lohengrin (1942),[14] Louise (1943),[15] Tannhäuser (1943),[16] Carmen (1943),[17] La Traviata (1943),[18] The Magic Flute (1945),[19] Rigoletto (1945),[20] Der Rosenkavalier (1945),[21] Lakmé (1946),[22] Faust (1947),[23] Hansel and Gretel (1947),[24] and Lucia di Lammermoor (1950).[25] She also toured with Met productions,[26] and was regularly heard in the Metropolitan Opera's radio broadcasts in the 1940s.[27] She made national headlines when she was called in to sing "Elsa" in Lohengrin in Boston in 1942, a role she had never performed before, when Astrid Varnay fell ill.[28][29][30]

Personal life

In 1933, Maxine Stellman married fellow opera singer Joseph W. Caruso, a Sicilian-born tenor with the Metropolitan Opera. The Carusos owned the William Harris House in Brattleboro, one of the oldest buildings in Vermont.[31] She died in 1972, at the age of 66.[32]

References

  1. ^ Brattleboro Historical Society (2000-10-09). Brattleboro. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-1058-9.
  2. ^ "Wilhelm E. Stellman". The New York Times. 1937-09-07. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  3. ^ "Girl Student Wins $1,000 Music Prize; Miss Maxine Stellman Gets Loeb Award at Graduation of the Juilliard School". The New York Times. 1934-06-03. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  4. ^ "Belle Julie Soudant Dead; Taught Voice at Juilliard". The New York Times. February 11, 1975. p. 42. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  5. ^ "To Study with Mme. Sembrich; Maxine Stellman Caruso Awarded Fellowship". Brattleboro Reformer. 1934-10-05. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b "Two Young Singers Win Opera Contest; Maxine Stellman and Thomas Thomas Chosen From 800 in Auditions of the Air". The New York Times. 1937-03-29. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  7. ^ "Festival at Chautauqua". The New York Times. August 8, 1937. p. 39. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  8. ^ "Is Engaged by Metropolitan; Maxine Stellman Caruso to Sing in Popular Season". Brattleboro Reformer. 1936-05-09. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Taubman, H. Howard. "Role of Aida Sung by Zinka Milanov" The New York Times (February 3, 1938): 18.
  10. ^ "Madama Butterfly Presented". The New York Times. February 29, 1940. p. 14. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  11. ^ "Die Walkuere at Opera". The New York Times. December 17, 1940. p. 32. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  12. ^ "Il Trovatore Is Given". The New York Times. January 12, 1941. p. 43. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  13. ^ "Manon Given at Metropolitan". The New York Times. December 24, 1942. p. 21. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  14. ^ "Stellman Wins Ovation As an Emergency Elsa" The New York Times (March 20, 1942): 24. via TimesMachine
  15. ^ Thomson, Virgil (2014-10-16). Virgil Thomson: Music Chronicles 1940–1954 (LOA #258). Library of America. ISBN 978-1-59853-364-4.
  16. ^ "Tannhaeuser at Metropolitan". The New York Times. February 11, 1943. p. 23. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  17. ^ "Carmen Is Repeated". The New York Times. July 17, 1943. p. 16. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  18. ^ "Third La Traviata Presented". The New York Times. January 16, 1943. p. 11. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  19. ^ "Thompson as Papageno; Baritone Essays Magic Flute Role at Metropolitan". The New York Times. January 25, 1945. p. 17. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  20. ^ "Warren is Heard as Rigoletto". The New York Times. January 4, 1945. p. 14. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  21. ^ "Final Rosenkavalier Given". The New York Times. March 30, 1945. p. 19. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  22. ^ "Knight Heard in Lakme". The New York Times. December 7, 1946. p. 26. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  23. ^ "Kirsten in Faust". The New York Times. March 6, 1947. p. 35. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  24. ^ "Opera to be Recorded". The New York Times. June 5, 1947. p. 32. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  25. ^ "Conley Sings Role of Edgardo", The New York Times (February 10, 1950): 32.
  26. ^ Leiper, Bart Jr. (1946-04-14). "Maxine Stellman to Appear Here in Countess Role of Rigoletto". Chattanooga Daily Times. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Jackson, Paul (1992). Saturday Afternoons at the Old Met: The Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts, 1931–1950. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-0-931340-48-2.
  28. ^ "Maxine Stellman Tells of Swift Jump into Opera's Leading Role". Brattleboro Reformer. 1942-03-24. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ Haupt, Enid (1943-02-14). "Vigorous, Slenderized Singers Are Spotlighted in Metropolitan Opera Rejuvenation". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 87. Retrieved 2023-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ Freeman, Bernard (1942-04-12). "This Reads Like Novel". Akron Beacon Journal. p. 50. Retrieved 2023-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ William Harris House, nomination form, National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service.
  32. ^ "Mrs. Joseph Caruso, Retired Singer, Dies". Brattleboro Reformer. 1972-06-26. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
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