Jean-Antoine-Marie Monperlier
Encyclopedia
Jean-Antoine-Marie Monperlier, (31 June 1788, Lyon
– 23 March 1819, Paris
) was a French poet, playwright, and librettist
. His plays ranged from light vaudeville
to larger scale melodrama
s, often incorporating ballet
sequences. His play Les chevaliers de Malte formed the basis for Giacomo Meyerbeer
's 1824 opera Il crociato in Egitto
.
His poetry includes:
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
– 23 March 1819, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) was a French poet, playwright, and librettist
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
. His plays ranged from light vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
to larger scale melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
s, often incorporating ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
sequences. His play Les chevaliers de Malte formed the basis for Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
's 1824 opera Il crociato in Egitto
Il crociato in Egitto
Il crociato in Egitto is an opera in two acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer, with a libretto by Gaetano Rossi. It was first performed at La Fenice theatre, Venice on 7 March, 1824. The part of Armando was sung by the famous castrato, Giovanni Battista Velluti; the opera was probably the last ever written...
.
Works
Monperlier's dramatic works include:- Les femmes infidelles – opéra-vaudeville in 3 acts, first performed 22 September 1812
- Le joueur de flûte, ou Les effets de l'harmonie – opéra comiqueOpéra comiqueOpéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged out of the popular opéra comiques en vaudevilles of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent , which combined existing popular tunes with spoken sections...
in 1 act (libretto by Monperlier, music by Jean-Jacques Dreuilh), first performed 5 January 1813 - Les chevaliers de Malte, ou, L'ambassade a Alger – mélodrame in 3 acts, first performed February 1813
- Almanza, ou, La prise de grenade – mélodrame héroïque in 3 acts, first performed 23 July 1814
- Le prince et le soldat – mélodrame in 3 acts, first performed 29 November 1814
- Le panier de cerises – vaudeville anecdotique in 1 act, first performed 17 May 1817
His poetry includes:
- Poèmes et poésies fugitives: voyage au Mont Cindre – published by Chambert, Lyon, 1812
- L'ombre de Henri IV (odeOdeOde is a type of lyrical verse. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. Different forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular ode also exist...
) – published by Chambert, Lyon, 1814 - Le retour des Bourbons – published by Chez les marchands de nouveautés, Paris, 1815
Sources
- Bréghot du Lut, Claude and Péricaud, Marc Antoine, "Monperlier (Jean-Antoine-Marie)", Biographie lyonnaise, Giberton et Brun, 1839, p. 195.
- Le Tellier, Robert Ignatius, The operas of Giacomo Meyerbeer, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 2006, p. 88. ISBN 0838640931
- WorldCatWorldCatWorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
, Jean Antoine Marie Monperlier. Accessed 22 September 2009.