Peter Pears had been specifically composed for the soprano voice. For Pears, Britten composed one of his most popular works, the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (1943). In early 1943 Pears joined Sadler's Wells Opera Company. His roles included Tamino in "The Magic Flute", Rodolfo in "La bohème", the Duke in "Rigoletto", Alfredo in "La traviata", Almaviva in "The Barber of Seville", Ferrando in "Così fan tutte" and Vašek in "The Bartered Bride". His growing operatic experience and expertise affected the composition of Britten's opera "Peter Grimes". The composer had envisaged the central figure, based on Crabbe's brutal fisherman, as a
Peter Glossop York, was in 1971 as Scarpia in "Tosca". Later roles for the Metropolitan Opera included Don Carlo in "La forza del destino", Mr Redburn in "Billy Budd", Balstrode in "Peter Grimes" and the title roles in "Falstaff" and "Wozzeck". His career continued into the mid-1980s with appearances in London and the main European and American opera houses. His further repertory included Don Carlo in "Ernani", Mandryka in "Arabella", Pizarro in "Fidelio" and the title roles in "The Flying Dutchman" and "Macbeth". Glossop made a number of recordings. These include "Macbeth" with Rita Hunter in the 1960s, "Billy Budd" under the