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
Tilly Grimes Tilly Grimes Tilly Grimes is a British costume designer for theatre, opera, and film. She works between London, Dublin and New York. She is a guest artist / guest designer at The Juilliard School, New York University, Fordham University, University of Rochester (School of Art & Sciences), The Curtis Institute and Trinity College Dublin. She is co-artistic director of London/Parisian Theatre Company "SavageCharm". Grimes received her Master of Line Arts (MFA) from the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and has taught at Brown University directing the MFA program. She began her stage costume design career in 2007