Opera under Taylor and his Trustees (1781–1785)

Abstract Few periods in the history of the King’s Theatre can match the four seasons between 1781 and 1785 for managerial chaos and artistic indirection. The emergence of William Taylor in autumn 1781 as the principal proprietor in succession to Sheridan and the series of unmitigated financial disasters that followed have already been discussed in Chapter 2. Their effect on opera production was not, however, straightforward and did not prove immediately disastrous.