Brian Sullivan, Eleanor Steber & Jerome Hines - Faust trio (Voice of Firestone, 1953)

Brian Sullivan (1915-1969) was a gifted American tenor who, sadly, is remembered more for his tragic death than for his contribution to opera. Born Harry Joseph Sullivan in Richmond, CA, the future tenor grew up loving both music and sports. Sullivan was raised in Salt Lake City, where he excelled at high school football. During his sophomore year, however, he auditioned (as a joke) for South High’s production of The Pirates of Penzance, surprising the music faculty with his singing. Sullivan won the role of Frederick and gave his very first performance on March 25, 1932.
After graduation, Sullivan moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the prestigious Manual Arts School, essentially repeating his senior year. He briefly attended Santa Clara University on a football scholarship but soon traded the gridiron for the stage. Sullivan continued studying voice and under the auspices of the Federal Music Project, sang in productions of opera and operetta, as well as concerts and oratorio. He joined the Hollywood Bowl opera chorus in 1937 and was soon being given small roles in their productions. Sullivan’s “official” debut (after many roles with tiny companies) was as Almaviva in Barbiere di Siviglia with the Long Beach Civic Concert series on April 30, 1940. By November, the tenor (still known as Joseph Sullivan) was singing small roles with Chicago Opera, including Second Jew in Salome and Totonno in I Gioielli della Madonna.
In early 1941, Sullivan was back in California, where he resumed his singing work. He toured as a soloist with the Ice Follies in March 1943 and was Eisenstein in Comic Opera Theater’s tour of The Rose Masque. Although he was now being touted as a singing star of MGM films, this was an exaggeration. Sullivan merely did a few bit roles (including a scene with Lauritz Melchior in the 1945 film, The Thrill of a Romance) and offered his voice for choral numbers in the studio’s musical productions.
Sullivan’s career was interrupted when he entered the army in early 1945. Luckily, he was assigned to Special Services, where he spent his hitch singing camp shows. Following his discharge that fall, Sullivan’s career began to pick up momentum. In 1946 (now calling himself Brian Sullivan), he won the role of Ravenal in the Broadway revival of Showboat, and a year later, created the role of Sam Kaplan in the premiere of Weill’s Street Scene. Sullivan made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Peter Grimes on February 23, 1948. He scored a tremendous success with both critics and public. He was hailed as the successor to Lauritz Melchior (who championed Sullivan) and found himself in demand in opera, operetta, concert, radio and TV.
Sullivan’s early years at the Met went smoothly. He sang a variety of roles, ranging from Tamino to Froh. However, problems began to surface by the late 1950s. He was booed at his 1959 Vienna Staatsoper debut as Erik in Der Fliegende Holländer and panned by critics. His behavior was becoming unpredictable, his performances inconsistent. Rumors of drinking binges began to circulate and Sullivan’s importance at the Met diminished. His contract was not renewed at the end of the 1960-61 season. Fortunately, Sullivan was still popular on regional stages, as well as on radio and TV. As he ventured into more dramatic repertoire, however, Sullivan yearned to return to the international scene. That chance came in 1969, when a contract to sing Siegfried in Götterdämmerung arrived from the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Sullivan was convinced that this engagement would be a new beginning, leading to work with major European theaters. Lauritz Melchior even gave his Siegfried costume to Sullivan for luck.
When Sullivan arrived in Geneva, he learned that there had been a miscommunication. He had been engaged as an understudy but the chance to perform never materialized. The day of the final performance, Sullivan vanished. Ten days later, on June 19, a drowning victim was found in the Rhone River. It was Brian Sullivan. Realizing his chances of reestablishing himself on the international scene were gone, the 53 year old singer took his own life. Somewhat prophetically, Sullivan said in an interview, “I think I’d rather be dead than not be a singer”. What a tragic end to a remarkable life.
What Brian Sullivan might have achieved had he lived another two or three decades can only be speculated on. Despite his tragic end, the tenor did enjoy a fine career, mostly American, that took him to major houses from coast to coast. His repertoire was vast, including the leads in Fidelio, Lohengrin, Parsifal, Tannhäuser, Rigoletto, Carmen, The Magic Flute, Alceste and Arabella. Although his commercial recorded legacy is quite sparse, a number of live recordings bear witness to what a fine artist Sullivan was. Here, Sullivan, Eleanor Steber and Jerome Hines sing the final trio from Gounod’s Faust. This was recorded during a Voice of Firestone broadcast on November 23, 1953, with Howard Barlow at the podium.

[@user-il5oq5df6l]

Magnificent singing by Steber, Sullivan and Hines--all three of them operatic legends!!!!

[@Bivolari]

You frightened me when you wrote Rise Stevens instead of Eleanor Steber!😱

[@deadtenorssociety2973]

It frightens me, too...that I made such a ridiculous mistake! Many thanks for bringing it to my attention.