Madama Butterfly Metropolitan Opera 1947

James Melton as Pinkerton

Metropolitan Opera House
December 13, 1947 Matinee Broadcast


MADAMA BUTTERFLY

Cio-Cio-San.............Licia Albanese
Pinkerton...............James Melton
Suzuki..................Thelma Altman
Sharpless...............John Brownlee
Goro....................Alessio De Paolis
Bonze...................Melchiorre Luise
Yamadori................George Cehanovsky
Kate Pinkerton..........Irene Jordan
Commissioner............John Baker

Conductor...............Giuseppe Antonicelli

This was the standard cast for Madama Butterfly at the Met, Albanese, Melton and Brownlee appeared in the broadcasts of this opera in 1946 and 1950, and both Albanese and Brownlee appeared in other broadcasts as well. James Melton was perhaps best known in the 1930s as a radio star but he moved successfully into opera in the 1940s performing at the Met between 1942 and 1950 in roles such as Alfredo, Tamino, Don Ottavio, Edgardo and Wilhelm Meister in Mignon. It was as Pinkerton that he made the greatest impression however, and as the picture illustrates, his looks certainly helped.
The recording is taken from a noisy aircheck and has side breaks and missing music but a large part of the opera was preserved. 
https://rapidshare.com/files/389971878/1947Butterfly.zip