Peter Pears is best remembered for his work with the twentieth century English composer, Benjamin Britten. Born in Farnham, England, in 1910, he became internationally famous from 1945 when he began to create the tenor rÙles in Britten's operas; these included Peter Grimes, Billy Budd and The Turn Of The Screw. He also created the role of Pandarus in the English composer Walton's opera, Troilus and Cressida.
On Brittenís death in 1976, he took over the running of the Aldeburgh Festival, which he had been instrumental in helping to fashion as a focus for new English music over the previous thirty years.
As well as his operatic repertoire, Pears was known for his interpretations of English songs. Working with lute-player, Julian Bream, he was instrumental in reviving interest in the Renaissance art of the lute song. Here, and in the many folksong arrangements that Britten wrote for him, he displays the extraordinary flexibility and unique timbre of his voice. His intricate sense of wit and of the delicate subtleties of sentiment served him well on the opera stage and the recital platform.
