Peter Pears

Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears CBE (born 22 June 1910 in Farnham, † April 3, 1986 in Aldeburgh ) was a British tenor and longtime life partner of the composer Benjamin Britten. He received his knighthood in 1978.

Life

He trained organist at Keble College, Oxford, but left it without a degree. Between 1933 and 1934, he began his vocal studies at the Royal College of Music. Pears embodied, inter alia, the title character of Peter Grimes and worked on Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream co-wrote. Britten's arrangements of English folk songs as well as his Serenade for Tenor, Horn and String Orchestra were written on his body.

His voice has been described by critics now and then as " dry" and "white." In fact, they probably lost considerably in the recording. But there is no doubt that he had an unusually good articulation and mobility in his voice, made ​​frequent use of the Britten. A joint recording of Schubert's Winterreise testifies to its high declamatory art.