''The Voice of Firestone'' was a radio and television program of
classical music. The show featured leading singers in selections from
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
and
operetta. Originally titled ''The Firestone Hour'',
it was first broadcast on the
NBC Radio network on December 3, 1928 and was later also shown on television starting in 1949. The program was last broadcast in 1963.
Radio
The program was sponsored by the
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is a tire company founded by Harvey Firestone (1868–1938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheele ...
and aired on the "
Blue Network" of
NBC Radio on Monday nights at 8:30 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 U.S. states, states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and ...
from its 1928 inception. In 1948, ''The Voice of Firestone'' was the first commercial radio program to be carried simultaneously on both AM and FM radio stations. Firestone's 25th anniversary program was broadcast November 30, 1953, and it continued to be heard on radio until 1957.
[John Dunning's reference book, ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio'', gives the date of the final radio broadcast as June 10, 1957.][
Regular performers on the series included ]James Melton
James Melton (January 2, 1904 – April 21, 1961), a popular singer in the 1920s and early 1930s, later began a career as an operatic singer when tenor voices went out of style in popular music around 1932–35. His singing talent was similar to ...
, Eleanor Steber
Eleanor Steber (July 17, 1914October 3, 1990) was an American operatic soprano. Steber is noted as one of the first major opera stars to have achieved the highest success with training and a career based in the United States.
Biography
Eleanor ...
, Richard Crooks
Richard Alexander Crooks (June 26, 1900 – September 29, 1972) was an American tenor and a leading singer at the New York Metropolitan Opera.
Biography
He was born the second son of Alexander and Elizabeth Crooks on June 26, 1900 in Trenton, N ...
, Rise Stevens
Rise or RISE may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world
* Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3''
* Rise Kujikawa, a vide ...
, Robert Merrill
Robert Merrill (June 4, 1917 – October 23, 2004) was an American operatic baritone and actor, who was also active in the musical theatre circuit. He received the National Medal of Arts in 1993.
Early life
Merrill was born Moishe Miller, ...
, Thomas Heyward
Thomas Heyward Jr. (July 28, 1746 – March 6, 1809) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, jurist, and politician. Heyward was active politically during the Revolutionary Era. As a member of the Continental Congress representing South Caroli ...
, Igor Gorin, Nadine Conner
Nadine Conner (born Evelyn Nadine Henderson; February 20, 1907 - March 1, 2003) was an American operatic soprano, radio singer and music teacher.
Early years
She was born in Compton, California as Evelyn Nadine Henderson, and was the descendan ...
, Dorothy Warenskjold, and Thomas L. Thomas, among many others. Hugh James was the announcer.[
NBC dropped the program after the June 7, 1954, broadcast, but ABC immediately began to air it beginning with the following week's installment.][
]
Television
Firestone sponsored a related television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
, ''The Voice of Firestone Televues'', one of the first television series with programming other than news or sports coverage, and according to researchers of television history, may have been the first regularly scheduled series in U.S. television history broadcast beyond New York on a network of multiple stations. It began on November 29, 1943 on New York's WNBT, when there were only a few thousand sets in existence. First seen on the rudimentary NBC television network
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
in April 1944 (New York, Schenectady and Philadelphia), it continued until January 1947 with special interest topics in a documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
format. ''The Voice of Firestone'' radio-TV programs were known not only for classical music, but for their support of organizations such as 4-H
4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...
and the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
.
When ''The Voice of Firestone'' arrived on television in the fall of 1949, NBC simulcast the show on radio and TV, one of the first programs to use that technology. Thanks to the appearance on the show of famous classical-music soloists, some from the New York Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
, along with Broadway musical
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...
stars, the show was considered quite prestigious, but the ratings always remained low. In an era when successful programs were capable of garnering as many as half the viewers available in a given time slot, ''The Voice of Firestone'' typically only had three million viewers, a comparatively small number for what was rapidly becoming the nation's most influential mass medium. In 1954, NBC asked Firestone's permission to move the program to a different night or time period. Firestone refused and NBC canceled the program which then moved to ABC.
The program continued to air at 8:30 on Mondays until 1959, when ABC insisted on moving the show to a later time period. Firestone refused, and the show was canceled entirely. Although the ratings were low at the time of its cancellation, the fan outcry was loud, with some writing their congressmen
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
. ABC tried to appease the fans with ''Music for a Summer Night'', a copy of the show minus Firestone, but the results were not favorable. The 30th anniversary show was telecast November 24, 1958.
In 1962, ''The Voice of Firestone'' returned, airing at 10pm on Sunday nights. The same relatively small number of viewers tuned in, and the show was permanently canceled in May 1963.
The Firestone Orchestra was conducted by Hugo Mariani (1928–31), William Daly (1931–36), Alfred Wallenstein
Alfred Wallenstein (October 7, 1898 – February 8, 1983) was an American cellist and conductor. A successful solo and orchestral cellist in his early life, Wallenstein took up conducting in the 1930s and served as music director of the Los ...
(1936–43) and Howard Barlow (1943 on). Featured among the eight regular singers of the Firestone Chorus were Lorraine Donahue, William Toole (baritone), Russell Hammar (tenor), Donald Craig (bass), and Bill Metcalf. Hugh James was the announcer.
Theme songs
Idabelle Firestone (Mrs. Harvey Firestone
Harvey Samuel Firestone (December 20, 1868 – February 7, 1938) was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires.
Family background
Firestone was born o ...
) was the composer and lyricist of the program's opening and closing theme songs. She wrote "In My Garden" in 1933 which became the Firestone Hour's opening theme until 1940. In that year "In My Garden" was banned from use by ASCAP due to a composers' dispute. Mrs. Firestone then introduced the popular " If I Could Tell You" which became the show's opening theme song for all its remaining years. "In My Garden" became the closing theme later when the dispute was resolved. Tenor Richard Crooks
Richard Alexander Crooks (June 26, 1900 – September 29, 1972) was an American tenor and a leading singer at the New York Metropolitan Opera.
Biography
He was born the second son of Alexander and Elizabeth Crooks on June 26, 1900 in Trenton, N ...
, the longtime host of the radio broadcasts (from 1928 to 1945), recorded "If I Could Tell You" for RCA Victor. Soprano Eleanor Steber
Eleanor Steber (July 17, 1914October 3, 1990) was an American operatic soprano. Steber is noted as one of the first major opera stars to have achieved the highest success with training and a career based in the United States.
Biography
Eleanor ...
, a frequent Firestone host following Crooks, also recorded both of Idabelle Firestone's songs.
New England Conservatory holdings
The New England Conservatory houses documents and recordings related to ''The Voice of Firestone''.
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
Museum of Broadcast Communications: ''The Voice of Firestone''
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