I have attended two performances of 'Peter Grimes' with Vickers. For me his is the definitive portrayal of Grimes. He is unforgettable in the role, received to thunderous acclaim. Britten was said to not be too keen on his portrayal, but for me Vickers perfectly characterized the tortured soul.of Peter.

This performance simply wrenches bitter painful tears from the depths of my being. When Ellen enters,"...Peter...we come to take you home...: then we feel the very essence of mercy, but it is too late...

The single most moving scene in all of opera, as far as I'm concerned...but of course, must be seen in context to be appreciated.

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When was this performance recorded?

I feel like Vickers plays his own concept of "insanity" more than he plays the scenario and the words themselves. For me, Grimes is rational here -- it's the world that's gone mad, not him. He has an accurate appraisal of what's going on and how he's being/about to be treated. Every line can be connected to a specific thought or flashback and for me there's sense in the order. I don't think Vickers sees it that way. I think the way he slows the lines down is good, it makes the text more emotional than the quick way Pears tends to go through it and I like how clear his text is, whereas Pears is like slurring some of the words together. But Vickers gives so much emphasis to each word rather than giving clarity to each thought that Grimes has, each sentence he says. It makes the scene less clear overall. Grimes is a hard role to make a through line out of, which is a problem with the piece itself. I don't think the overall interpretation here has more sense than Pears' interpretation, but Vickers has a lot of interesting ideas and finds more/different emotion in the scene and I also think it's brave of him to interpret the scene in his own way instead of following expectations