author

Samuel James Arnold

1774–1852

Best remembered as a lively force in London theatre, he wrote plays and helped turn the Lyceum into the English Opera House. His career linked writing, management, and musical performance at a moment when opera was finding a bigger English audience.

1 Audiobook

The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor, Vol. I, No. 2, February 1810

The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor, Vol. I, No. 2, February 1810

by Samuel James Arnold

About the author

Born in London in 1774, he was the son of the composer and organist Samuel Arnold. He became known as a dramatist and theatrical manager, building a career on both writing for the stage and running it.

He produced plays in London from the 1790s and is especially associated with the Lyceum Theatre. There he secured permission to present opera and musical drama, later leasing the theatre and renaming it the English Opera House.

That work made him an important figure in early 19th-century performance culture. He is often remembered for broadening English audiences' access to major operas, including the first English production of Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz in 1824. He died in 1852.