What is Robert Tear?
'''Robert Tear''' ([[Barry, Vale of Glamorgan|Barry]], [[Glamorgan]], [[Wales]] on 8 March 1939 – 29 March 2011)<ref>[http://www.mycentraloregon.com/entertainment/671821/Welsh-tenor-Robert-Tear-dies-at-72.html Robert Tear dies]{{Dead link|date=September 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> was a [[Welsh people|Welsh]] [[tenor]] and [[conducting|conductor]]. Robert Tear (“Tear” rhymes with “dear”) was educated in Wales. He sang in the [[Choir (music)|choir]] at [[St. Paul's Cathedral]] and then became a [[choral scholar]] at [[King’s College, Cambridge]]. In 1961 he left Cambridge and started his career as a soloist. He soon became very successful, singing with the [[English Opera Group]]. He became well known for singing many roles in the [[opera]]s of [[Benjamin Britten]]. He sang the part of Quint in ''[[The Turn of the Screw (opera)|The Turn of the Screw]]'', including performances in [[Moscow]] and [[Leningrad]]. Tear sang solos with many great [[orchestra]]s under many famous [[Conductor (music)|conductors]] including [[Leonard Bernstein]], [[Carlo Maria Giulini]] and [[Herbert von Karajan]]. He sang in many famous opera houses in the world. He made over 250 recordings including many [[cantata]]s of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]], Benjamin Britten’s Serenade, Nocturne and the War Requiem and [[Gustav Mahler]]’s ''Das Lied von der Erde''. He also recorded many [[Lieder]] including [[Schubert]]’s ''Die Winterreise''. Robert Tear often conducted in his later years. In 1985 he conducted in [[Minneapolis]] in the [[United States]]. He conducted many orchestras including the [[Northern Sinfonia]], [[English Chamber Orchestra]], [[Philharmonia]], [[Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra]], [[Royal Scottish National Orchestra]] and the [[Scottish Chamber Orchestra]]. As a singer Tear was especially known for his singing of the music of British composers Benjamin Britten and [[Michael Tippett|Tippett]]. He was the first to sing the role of Dov in Tippett's opera ''[[The Knot Garden]]''.