Leta Fulton Whitney's The Lost Art of Bel Canto is the most important modern work written on the subject of the bel canto (beautiful singing) method. First, it tells the story of the life of voice and piano teacher William Lincoln Whitney. It describes how he learned from his father and from the greatest masters in Europe in the late years of the 19th century. He went on to teach thousands of pupils, including the great Eleanor Steber.