Britten - Peter Grimes / Pears · C. Watson · Pease · Brannigan · J. Watson · Elms · Studholme · Kells · R. Nilsson · Lanigan · G. Evans · D. Kelly · ROH Covent Garden · Britten
Benjamin Britten'sPeter Grimesnot only single-handedly  revitalized the genre of English opera, but was also the most profoundly  original and dramatically groundbreaking opera in this century and possibly the  most significant English dramatic musical work ever written. Its subject, a  misfit fisherman whose confrontation with society and its unforgiving rules  leads to his ultimate destruction, was a vehicle for more important subthemes,  not least of which was Britten's ongoing near-obsession with the nature of  innocence and its corruption. The phenomenal impact ofGrimeson  audiences and performers assured Britten's place as the century's preeminent  opera composer, and launched him on the path to creating many more successful  stage works. This production, with Peter Pears in the role of Grimes and Britten  conducting, remains the definitive recording, with an excellent performance by  Pears, for whom the role was created, and fine sound.--David Vernier