Alexandre Jean Joseph Le Riche de La Pouplinière, sometimes also written Popelinière ou Poupelinière (

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, 1693 – 5 December 1762) was an immensely wealthy '' fermier général'', the only son of his father, Alexandre Le Riche (1663-1735), seigneur of Courgains, (Anjou) and Brétignolles (Touraine), likewise a ''fermier général''. Besides his post as

tax farm A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

er, he was mainly one of the greatest patrons of music and musicians of the eighteenth century. A true patron of the Enlightenment, he gathered round him a circle of artists, men of letters and musicians. He kept a private orchestra, "the best that was known in those days", according to Jean-François Marmontel (''"… le meilleur concert de musique qui fût connu dans ce temps-là."''), which was led for twenty-two years by Jean-Philippe Rameau, who was succeeded by

Johann Stamitz Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz (Czech: Jan Václav Antonín Stamic; 18 June 1717 – 27 March 1757) was a Bohemian composer and violinist. His two surviving sons, Carl and Anton Stamitz, were composers of the Mannheim school, of which Johann is ...

and then by

François-Joseph Gossec François-Joseph Gossec (17 January 1734 – 16 February 1829) was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works. Life and work The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, then a French exc ...

. The best Italian musicians, violinists, singers, were lodged with him and fed at his table, and all, according to Marmontel, were inspired to shine competitively in his '' salon''.

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

was obliged to his generosity, and

Maurice Quentin de La Tour Maurice Quentin de La Tour (5 September 1704 – 17 February 1788) was a French Rococo portraitist who worked primarily with pastels. Among his most famous subjects were Voltaire, Rousseau, Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour. Biography Maurice ...

and Carle van Loo both painted his portrait. Marmontel recalled later, "Never did a bourgeois live in more princely style, and the princes came to enjoy his pleasures." (''"Jamais bourgeois n'a mieux vécu en prince, et les princes venaient jouir de ses plaisirs."'') Separated from his wife, La Pouplinière established himself luxuriously at Passy, a fashionable suburb west of Paris. The best singers from the

Opéra This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...

and the most beautiful dancers embellished his suppers. In his private theatre he mounted his own comedies, one of them being ''Daïra'' (1760); Marmontel found them mediocre, but expressed with such taste and so well written that it was not excessive flattery to applaud them. He also published a ''Journal de voyage en Hollande'' (1731) and ''Tableaux et mœurs du temps dans les différents âges de la vie'', which was published together with ''L'Histoire de Zaïrette'' in 1750. Rameau met most of his librettists at the hôtel de La Pouplinière at Passy and his operas were composed in the house. He died at Passy, aged 69. In the following year, composer François-Joseph Gossec was obliged to appear in court to obtain restitution of some of his own scores, which had been in La Pouplinière's possession when he died.Music and History
Accessed 24 April 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Poupliniere, Alexandre Le Riche de Patrons of literature French patrons of music French art collectors 1693 births 1762 deaths Fermiers généraux Denis Diderot 18th-century French businesspeople