"Although rooted in a small fishing community on the east coast of England, the conflict at the heart of Britten's astounding, sea-swept opera is universal. Fisherman Peter Grimes is an outsider, torn between the dream of a conventional life with Ellen Orford, a local schoolteacher, and the truth of his own nature - at times visionary, at others violent. For the rest of the community, he is a channel for their worst fears and their deepest desires." More ...