Jean-Antoine-Marie Monperlier, (31 June 1788 – 23 March 1819) was a French poet, playwright, and

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, 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 ...

. Monperlier was born in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. His plays ranged from light

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

to larger scale

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

s, often incorporating

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

sequences. His play ''Les chevaliers de Malte'' formed the basis for

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart and Richard Wa ...

's 1824 opera ''

Il crociato in Egitto (''The Crusader in Egypt'') 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 Batt ...

''. He died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, aged 30.

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 comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular ''opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Théâtre de la foire, Fair Theatres of St Germain and S ...

'' 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'' (

ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...

) – 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. *

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

Jean Antoine Marie Monperlier
Accessed 22 September 2009. 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French poets 1788 births 1819 deaths Writers from Lyon {{France-poet-stub