Subject: Benjamin Britten & Peter Pears at the Red House – Shared Lives, Shared Legacy

Christopher Hilton will talk about the composer Benjamin Britten; his partner the singer Peter Pears; the life that they shared together at their home in Aldeburgh, the Red House; and the collections that they have left us.  Those collections mean that we can see the house very much as they left it and explore an archive of unparalleled richness that tells the stories of their professional lives and, most unusually, gives us insight into the lives of a gay couple at a time when their relationship was illegal.  Along the way, he will tell some of the stories that we find in the archive, featuring tales of young men and fast cars, post-war reconciliation coming into conflict with Soviet bureaucracy, and a cameo appearance from Queen Elizabeth II…