James McCracken (1926-1988) was an American tenor, one of the major dramatic tenors of the mid-twentieth century. He became especially associated with Verdi, Wagner and the Metropolitan Opera.

In the Pristine catalogue he appears in Puccini and Wagner, including Metropolitan Opera broadcasts of Manon Lescaut and Parsifal.

McCracken’s singing brought force, stamina and a distinctive dramatic bite, qualities valuable in repertory that asks the tenor to cut through orchestral masonry.

His page is essential. McCracken gives the Met opera shelf a tenor line with granite in the grain.