Peter Grimes relations with his apprentice to be bordering on paederastic, Pears persuaded Slater to cut the questionable stanzas from the final version. The opera was commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundations and is "dedicated to the memory of Natalie Koussevitzky", wife of the Russian-born American conductor Serge Koussevitzky. When Joan Cross, who was then manager of the Sadler's Wells company, announced her intention to re-open Sadler's Wells Theatre with "Peter Grimes" with herself and Peter Pears in the leading roles, there were many complaints from company members about supposed favouritism and the "" of Britten's score. Yet when "Peter Grimes" opened
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