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
The Letter (opera) the publisher. On July 14, Teachout began "livetweeting" from rehearsals for "The Letter" on his Twitter page. He posted about "The Letter" there and on his blog between then and the opera's premiere. The premiere featured soprano Patricia Racette and baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore (who appeared in Santa Fe's 2008 "Falstaff"). The two appeared together in the Metropolitan Opera's new 2008 production of "Peter Grimes". The production was directed by British theatre and opera director, Jonathan Kent, whose work has been seen in Santa Fe several times (notably in the 2008 "The Marriage of Figaro") and conducted by Patrick Summers of