
Pierre Perrin ( – 24 April 1675) was a French poet 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 ...
.
Perrin, sometimes known as L'Abbé Perrin although he never belonged to the clergy, 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 ...
. He founded the
Académie d'Opéra
The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...
, which later was renamed the
Académie Royale de Musique when control of it passed to
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully ( – 22 March 1687) was a French composer, dancer and instrumentalist of Italian birth, who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he spent most of his life working in the court o ...
.
He worked with
Robert Cambert, creating with him ''La Pastorale d'Issy'' in 1659, and with
Jean-Baptiste Boësset, creating ''La Mort d'Adonis'', in 1662. With Cambert, he also created ''
Pomone'', which inaugurated the opening of the
first "salle de l'Opéra" in 1671, of which he had obtained the privilege from King
Louis XIV
LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
. He also presented there his ''Les peines et les plasirs de l'amour''.
A poor administrator and the victim of dishonest collaborators, Perrin was imprisoned for debts and had to sell his privilege to Lully in 1672.
He died in poverty in Paris, aged about 55.
His verses are now considered mediocre, but his name remains associated with the birth of opera as an art form in France.
See also
*
Plaude Laetare Gallia
References
Sources
* ''Le guide de l'opéra, les indispensables de la musique'', R.Mancini & J.J.Rouvereux, (Fayard, 1986),
External links
His plays and their presentationso
CÉSAR
1620s births
1675 deaths
Writers from Lyon
French opera librettists
17th-century French dramatists and playwrights
17th-century French poets
17th-century French male writers
Directors of the Paris Opera
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