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, 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 ...

, 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 Farming or tax-farming is a technique of financial management in which the management of a variable revenue stream is assigned by contract, legal contract to a third party and the holder of the revenue stream receives fixed periodic rents from t ...

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 Jean-François Marmontel (; 11 July 1723 – 31 December 1799) was a French historian, writer and a member of the Encyclopédistes movement. Biography He was born of poor parents at Bort, Limousin (today in Corrèze). After studying wi ...

(''"… le meilleur concert de musique qui fût connu dans ce temps-là."''), which was led for twenty-two years by

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of ...

, 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 ...

and then by François-Joseph Gossec. 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 Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

''.

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

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 painter who worked primarily with pastels in the Rococo style. Among his most famous subjects were Voltaire, Rousseau, Louis XV and the Madame de Pompadour. Biogra ...

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 Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, on the Rive Droite, Right Bank. It is adjacent to Auteuil, Paris, Auteuil to the southwest, and Chaillot to the northeast. It is home to many ...

, a fashionable suburb west of Paris. The best singers from the Opéra 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

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 French patrons of literature French patrons of music French art collectors 1693 births 1762 deaths Fermiers généraux Denis Diderot 18th-century French businesspeople