A very rare kinescope of the NBC Opera telecast of scenes from Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd, originally telecast on October 19, 1952. The title role is sung by Theodor Uppman, who appeared in the opera’s original 1951 production. Andrew McKinley plays Captain Vere and Leon Lishner plays Claggart. The performance was conducted by Peter Herman Adler and the telecast was directed by Kirk Browning:
(This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)