Editing Peter Pears (section)

===''Peter Grimes'' and English Opera Group===
As the war was nearing its end, the artistic director of Sadler's Wells, the singer [[Joan Cross]], announced her intention to re-open the company's home base in London with Britten's new opera ''[[Peter Grimes]]'', casting herself and Pears in the leading roles.{{#tag:ref|[[Sadler's Wells Theatre]] in [[Islington]], London, was requisitioned by the government in 1942 as a refuge for people made homeless by air-raids; the Sadler's Wells opera company toured the British provinces, returning to its home base in June 1945.<ref>Gilbert pp. 78, 83 and 98</ref>
|group= n}} There were complaints from company members about supposed favouritism and the "cacophony" of Britten's score, as well as some ill-suppressed [[Homophobia|homophobic]] remarks.<ref>Gilbert, p. 98</ref> ''Peter Grimes'' opened in June 1945 and was hailed by public and critics.<ref name=press>See, for example, "Sadler's Wells Opera – 'Peter Grimes{{'"}}, ''The Times'', 8 June 1945, p. 6, and [[William Glock|Glock, William]]. "Music", ''[[The Observer]]'', 10 June 1945, p. 2</ref> Most of the extensive press coverage was to do with the work, but there was also high praise for the performances of Pears and Cross.<ref name=press/> Dismayed by the in-fighting among the company, Cross, Britten and Pears severed their ties with Sadler's Wells in December 1945, going on to found what was to become the [[English Opera Group]].<ref>Gilbert, p. 107</ref>

Britten's next opera, ''[[The Rape of Lucretia]]'', was presented at the first post-war Glyndebourne Festival, in 1946. It was a chamber piece for eight singers and an orchestra of twelve players. Pears and Cross were the Male and Female Chorus, with [[Kathleen Ferrier]] as Lucretia.  After the festival, the work was taken on tour to provincial cities under the banner of the "Glyndebourne English Opera Company", an uneasy alliance of Britten and his associates with [[John Christie (opera manager)|John Christie]], the autocratic proprietor of Glyndebourne.<ref>Hope-Wallace, Philip. "Opera at Glyndebourne", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 15 July 1946, p. 3; and Carpenter, pp. 242–243</ref> The tour lost money heavily, and Christie announced that he would underwrite no more tours.<ref>Carpenter, p. 243</ref> Britten and his associates set up the English Opera Group; the librettist [[Eric Crozier]] and the designer [[John Piper (artist)|John Piper]] joined Britten as artistic directors. The group's express purpose was to produce and commission new English operas and other works, presenting them throughout the country.<ref>Wood, Anne. "English Opera Group", ''The Times'', 12 July 1947, p. 5</ref> Britten wrote the comic opera ''[[Albert Herring]]'' for the group in 1947. Pears played the title role – one of his fairly rare excursions into comedy. Reviews of the opera were mixed, but Pears's performance as Albert, the mother's boy who kicks over the traces, received consistently good notices.<ref>"Albert Herring", ''The Times'', 21 June 1947, p. 6; "Maupassant Reversed", ''The Observer'', 22 June 1947, p. 2; "A New Britten Opera", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 23 June 1947, p. 3; and "At Covent Garden", ''The Observer'', 12 October 1947, p. 2</ref>