and Apothecary. In summer 1788, they toured in Liverpool, Chester, Manchester, Worcester and Birmingham, and Kelly decided not to return to Vienna. His oratorio work with Mme Mara began, and she played Mandane in Artaxerxes for him. Engaged as principal tenor of the Ancient Concerts under Joah Bates, he sang Handel's "Deeper and deeper still", and brought fresh humour to "Haste thee, nymph" (coached by Linley) to the delight of the royal audience. "In singing sacred music I was aware of its value, and fagged at the tenor songs of Handel with unremitting assiduity", he wrote. In October 1788, he sang Richard Coeur de Lion for Sheridan in London, and in Messiah with Mme Mara at Norwich Festival. With her he often performed the recitative "And Miriam the prophetess took a timbrel" from Israel in Egypt. Kelly played Macheath for the first time in April 1789, with Mrs Crouch (Polly) and Marie Therese De Camp (Lucy). With Mrs Crouch, La Storace, Mme Mara and Dr Arnold he assisted a large Handel concert at Little Stanmore (the former home of the Duke of Chandos, where at St Lawrence's the organ had been played by Handel). Kelly scored a great hit in Storace's The Haunted Tower, delivering a ringing top B in the evergreen "Spirit of my sainted sire". In August 1790, he spent some weeks with Mr and Mrs Crouch in Paris, seeing Grétry's La Caravane and Raoul Barbe-bleu, which they were to perform in English versions. They began 1791 at Drury Lane with Stephen Storace's The Siege of Belgrade (incorporating a Martini scena), and his version of Salieri's Cave of Trofonio (Prince Hoare text) was given. On 4 June, they performed The Country Girl and No song, no supper (Storace) for the very last night of the Old Drury Lane Theatre, which was then closed and demolished. Later life Appearing in London at Drury Lane in 1787, Kelly enjoyed great success, and thenceforth was the principal English-language tenor at that theatre. In 1793, he became acting manager of the King's Theatre, and he was in great demand at concerts. His relationship with Anna Maria Crouch, whom he shared for a time with the Prince of Wales, added to his notoriety. In 1826, he published his entertaining Reminiscences, written with the assistance of Theodore Hook. He combined his professional work with conducting a music shop and a wine shop, but with