Jean-Baptiste-Denis Despré

Jean-Baptiste-Denis Despré (24 June 1752 – 2 March 1832) was a French playwright, librettist, journalist, and translator.

Biography edit

Jean-Baptiste-Denis Despré was born in Dijon, Côte-d'Or. He was secretary of Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, [1] and later of Louis Bonaparte, who made him a councillor of state.[2] In 1783 at the Gaîté, he parodied plays of William Shakespeare, that was adapted by Jean-François Ducis.[3]

Works edit

  • 1776: La Bonne femme, ou le Phénix (vaudeville, parody of Alceste), (with Pierre-Yves Barré (1749-1832) and Pierre-Antoine-Augustin de Piis (1755-1832))
  • 1777: L'Opéra de province (parody of Armide in two acts and in verse)
  • 1783: Le Roi Lu (parodie du Roi Lir ou Lear, in one act and in verse)
  • 1792: Cécile et Ermancé (opéra comique)
  • 1793: Nice (one-act comédie en vaudeville, in prose, imitation of Stratonice)
  • 1796: Le Retour à Bruxelles (one-act opéra comique)
  • 1796: La Succession (one-act opéra comique), (with Jacques-Marie Deschamps)
  • 1797: Le Pari (divertissement in one acte, en prose et en vaudevilles), (with Pierre-Yves Barré, Jacques-Marie Deschamps, François-Georges Desfontaines (1733-1825), and Jean-Baptiste Radet (1752-1830)
  • 1798: Le portrait de Fielding (one-act comedy)
  • 1799: L'Allarmiste (comédie en vaudeville)
  • 1800: Le gondolier, ou La soirée venitienne (one-act opera), (with Louis-Philippe de Ségur (1753-1830))
  • 1803: Saül (oratorio mis en action)
  • 1803: Le Poète satyrique (one-act comedy, in verse)
  • 1803: Une soirée de deux prisonniers, ou Voltaire et Richelieu (one-act comedy)
  • 1804: Le pavillon du Calife ou Almanzor et Zobéide (opera)
  • 1805: Le Nouveau magasin des modernes (one-act comedy, in prose)
  • 1805: La Prise de Jéricho (oratorio in three parts)
  • 1814: Le laboureur chinois (one-act opera), (with Jacques-Marie Deschamps (1750?-1826), Étienne Morel de Chédeville (1751-1814) and Henri-Montan Berton (1767-1844))
  • 1822: Mémoires sur Garrick et sur Macklin
  • 1822: Mémoires sur Molière, et sur Mme Guérin, sa veuve (notes and commentary)
  • 1827: Œuvres choisies de Dorat

Translations edit

References edit

  1. ^ César. Calendrier Électronique des Spectacles sous l'Ancien Régime et sous la Révolution. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  2. ^ Thomas, Joseph (1 January 2010). The Universal Dictionary of Biography and Mythology. Cosimo, Inc. p. 754. ISBN 9781616400705. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  3. ^ Forman, Edward (2010). Historical dictionary of French theater. Bristol: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 105. ISBN 978-0810874510. Retrieved 11 June 2019.

External links edit