London’s theatre life at the time of Mozart’s visit was dominated by three venues. The King’s Theatre, Haymarket was reserved exclusively for Italian opera, but there were two theatres—the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden—which were licensed to stage plays and operas in English.

At the time of Mozart’s visit to London, the Drury Lane theatre was run by the celebrated Shakespearean actor David Garrick, who gradually attempted to challenge and change the prevailing theatrical attitudes; he was to cause general alarm and consternation by announcing that to play Macbeth he should wear a different costume from the one he wore to play Shylock. Despite Garrick’s predilection for plays, opera still featured prominently in Drury Lane’s programming as he sought to win audiences from rival venues.

The Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, meanwhile, was being run by the popular tenor John Beard, a former favourite of Handel, who transformed the theatre’s financial footing while at the same time turning it into a predominantly opera-producing venue. He had sung the role of Artabanes there in the première of Arne’s Artaxerxes in 1762, and he continued to play this role during Mozart’s time in London. It was during a performance of this opera in 1763 that the audience had rioted in protest against Beard’s abolition of a tradition whereby late-comers were permitted half-price entry for the final act. These riots had resulted in £2,000 worth of damage, a huge sum in those days, but by the time Beard retired in 1767 he was able to sell the theatre’s patent for a staggering £60,000.

Thomas Arne’s The guardian outwitted was premièred at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 12 December 1764 with a cast that included Beard and Charlotte Brent, the composer’s mistress and muse (two years later, though, she was to marry Thomas Pinto, who led the orchestra at Drury Lane). Arne also wrote the libretto, which features a colourful cast of characters including Sir Liquorish Trapgold, Lord Planwell, Flirtilla and Dolly Pinup.

Both music and text have an easy grace and charm, with a peculiarly English slant that is poignantly naïve and unassumingly touching while at the same time tapping into the ability to mock itself. This is nowhere more evident than in the delicious duet for Roger and Dolly, which at one and the same time manages to celebrate and parody operatic convention.

from notes by Ian Page © 2018