Editing Benjamin Britten (section)

====Cause of death====

A more recent controversy was the statement in a 2013 biography of Britten by [[Paul Kildea]] that the composer's heart failure was due to undetected [[syphilis]], which Kildea speculates was a result of Pears's promiscuity while the two were living in New York.{{Sfn|Kildea|2013|pp=532–535}} In response, Britten's consultant cardiologist said that, like all the hospital's similar cases, Britten was routinely screened for syphilis before the operation, with negative results.<ref>Petch, Michael, ''[[Opera (British magazine)|Opera]]'', April 2013, p. 414.</ref> He described as "complete rubbish" Kildea's allegation that the surgeon who operated on Britten in 1973 would or even could have covered up a syphilitic condition.<ref>Higgins, Charlotte. [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/22/benjamin-britten-syphilis-condition-unlikely-cardiologist "Benjamin Britten syphilis 'extremely unlikely', says cardiologist"],''The Guardian'', 22 January 2013</ref> Kildea continued to maintain, "When all the composer's symptoms are considered there can be only one cause."<ref>[[Paul Kildea|Kildea, Paul]]. [http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:UKNB:GRDC&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=1442322C9A6F8460&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=102CDD40F14C6BDA "The evidence does show Britten died from syphilis"], ''The Guardian'', 30 January 2013</ref> In ''The Times'', [[Richard Morrison (music critic)|Richard Morrison]] praised the rest of Kildea's book, and hoped that its reputation would not be "tarnished by one sensational speculation&nbsp;... some second-hand hearsay&nbsp;... presenting unsubstantiated gossip as fact."<ref>[[Richard Morrison (music critic)|Morrison, Richard]]. [http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:UKNB:LTIB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=1443FB8B58F7CCC8&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=102CDD40F14C6BDA "The temptation to settle old scores – A centenary biography of Britten should not be judged by just one sensational speculation – the rest is fascinating and convincing"], ''The Times'', 4 February 2013</ref>