Robert Tear

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Robert Tear (born March 8, 1939) is a Welsh tenor and conductor. His operatic debut was in 1966 as Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw on the English Opera Group's tour of England and Russia. In 1970 he debuted at Covent Garden as Lensky in Eugene Onegin. He made his debut as a conductor in 1985 in Minneapolis.

Robert Tear was born in Barry Glamorgan, Wales, UK. He was educated at Barry Boys' Grammar School and was a choral scholar at King's College, Cambridge. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (Coleg Brenhinol Cerdd a Drama Cymru). He has made over 250 records for many major recording companies. In 1984, he was awarded the CBE. He is married with two daughters and currently lives in West London.

Tear has been closely associated with the music of British composers Britten and Tippett. He created the role of Dov in Tippett's opera The Knot Garden.

He is also well-known for his duets with Benjamin Luxon, reviving many Victorian parlour songs.