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PETER PEARS's reputation as an outstanding and distinctive tenor is
grounded in his interpretations of Benjamin Britten's works; their
partnership of thirty years significantly shaped and defined
musical developments not only in England but on a broader plane.
Throughout their busy professional lives they travelled
extensively, on concert tours and on holiday, finding fresh
stimulus in change. Pear's twelve travel diaries, brought together
in this volume, record much of that travel and provide valuable
contextual material on the musical development of both Pears and
Britten.
The first diary dates from 1936, the year before his friendship
with Britten began, when he went on tour to North America with the
New English Singers. Other diaries record the five-month tour to
the Far East and the important encounters (especially for Britten)
with the gamelan music of Bali and the Japanese Noh theatre; visits
to Russia as guests of Mstislav Rostropovich and his wife Galina
Vishnevskaya, where they met significant figures from Russian
musical life; and attendance at the Ansbach Bach Festival when
Pears was at the height of his career. Also recorded are holidays
in the Caribbean and Italy, a concert tour through the north of
England, and accounts of the rehearsals and performances of the New
York premieres of Billy Budd and Death in Venice.
The renowned Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich performs
Tchaikovsky's 'Rococo Variations' at the Snape Maltings Concert
Hall in 1968, with Benjamin Britten conducting. Also included are
rare performances of Britten conducting excerpts from his opera
'Gloriana', with Peter Pears performing 'The Lute Song'.
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