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
Ray Grimes Ray Grimes Oscar Ray Grimes Sr. (September 11, 1893 – May 25, 1953) was a first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox (1920), Chicago Cubs (1922–1924) and Philadelphia Phillies (1926). Grimes batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Bergholz, Ohio. Grimes emerged as one of the first Chicago Cubs heroes of the early 1920s. He appeared in a game with the Boston Red Sox in 1920 before being dealt to the Cubs in 1921. That season he hit .321 with 79 runs batted in, 38 doubles, and 91 runs in a career-high 149