Louis-Victor-Nestor Roqueplan also (16 September 1805 – 24 April 1870)[Life dates are based on Tamvaco 2000, p. 1058. Huebner 1992, p. 39, says Roqueplan was born on 14 September 1805, and Larousse 1875, vol. 19, p. 1376, says he was born in 1804.] was a French writer, journalist, and theatre director.
Early life and career
Nestor Roqueplan was born near Montréal, Aude,
[Roqueplan's place of birth is based on Tamvaco 2000, p. 1058. Huebner 1992, p. 39, says he was born in "Montréal, France" without specifying the département. Many earlier sources, including Larousse 1875, vol. 19, p. 1376 say he was born in Mallemort, Bouches-du-Rhône.] and was the younger brother of the Romantic painter Camille Roqueplan. He first studied in Marseille, where he completed his secondary education in law, but moved to Paris in 1825, where he was able to publish several literary essays, and joined
Le Figaro in 1827, becoming its editor-in-chief with
Victor Bohain, who had purchased the paper that year for 30,000 francs.
[Tamvaco 2000, p. 1058; Thomas 1908, p. 2083 (became editor in 1827); Larousse 1867, vol. 2, p. 864 (Bohain); Huebner 1992 (law).]
Roqueplan was considered a dandy, and witty and caustic as a writer.[Hogg & Marryat 1873, "Anecdote Corner: A Hint for Ritualists", p. 704.] He was an amateur magician,[Wilde 1888, p. 208.] and in about 1830 invented the silk braid trim on trouser seams,[Richardson 1969, p. 151.] which became highly fashionable. He wrote as a critic, and in 1833 he fought a duel with a Colonel Gallois, who was offended by an article in Le Figaro. Roqueplan was wounded but recovered.[Millingen 2004, p. 97.]
Roqueplan also served as a theatre director at the Théâtre du Panthéon, the Théâtre des Nouveautés, and from 1841 to 1847 at the Théâtre des Variétés.[Tamvaco 2000, pp. 1058–1059; Huebner 1992 (dates of directorship).]
Paris Opera
Roqueplan and
Henri Duponchel joined Léon Pillet as co-directors of the
Paris Opera on 1 August 1847. Under pressure from increasing criticism of his previous policies, Pillet withdrew completely in November, leaving Roqueplan and Duponchel as co-directors until 21 November 1849, when Duponchel decided to retire. Roqueplan continued as sole director until 11 November 1854, when he was replaced by François-Louis Crosnier.
[Levin 2009, p. 382; Gerhard 1998, pp. 34–35.] The two most notable premieres at the Opera during his period as director were Verdi's
Jérusalem in 1847, which was not particularly successful, and Meyerbeer's
Le prophète in 1849 (with mezzo-soprano
Pauline Viardot, who had enormous success in the role of Fidès). Later, in 1851, he mounted Gounod's first opera,
Sapho, as a favor to Viardot, who sang the title role.
[Huebner 1992; Fitzlyon 1992; Gounod 1896, pp. 176–178.] In 1852 he produced Halévy's 5-act grand opera
Le Juif errant, which was well received by many critics and achieved a total of 49 performances,
[Jordan 1994, pp. 155–158.] but also resulted in the publication of a defense and critique of the opera in the form of a letter by Roqueplan to
Constitutionnel and a critique by
Jules Janin from the
Journal des Debats.
[Roqueplan & Janin 1852.] Overall Roqueplan's management of the Opera was considered disastrous, and he was forced out of his position as director, but the financial problems at the Opera failed to damage his personal fortune, and he was well-paid for his service.
[ The Literary Gazette, vol. 2, no. 34 (19 February 1859), p. 243.]
About this time he published two books, the first in 1853 about life in Paris titled Regain – La vie parisienne,[Roqueplan 1853.] and the second in 1855 consisting of theatre gossip called Coulisses de l'Opéra.[Roqueplan 1855.]
Opéra-Comique
On 20 November 1857 Roqueplan succeeded Émile Perrin as director of the Opéra-Comique, and held the position until 19 June 1860, when he was replaced by Alfred Beaumont.
[Levin 2009, p. 386.] The first new work to be presented under Roqueplan was
Ambroise Thomas's 3-act
Le carnaval de Venise on 9 December.
[Forbes 1992.] At the beginning of 1859 Roqueplan brought suit against
Le Figaro for harassment regarding his directorship. According to
The Literary Gazette of London, the
Figaro had described Roqueplan as "a species of Pasha, lolling upon a couch, smoking a cigar, and desirous only of escaping from all the details of his administration."
[ Not long thereafter came the triumphant premiere of Meyerbeer's Le pardon de Ploërmel, but despite its success, his financial difficulties increased. Eventually the constant money problems caused him to retire from opera management.][Huebner 1992.]
Later life
He wrote as a columnist for Constitutionnel and in 1868 published two booklets (drawn from obituaries he had written for that journal), one about Rossini[Roqueplan 1868c.] and another about Baron James de Rothschild.[Roqueplan 1868a.] The same year he also published a book of literary sketches of Paris as Parisine.[Roqueplan 1868b; Fétis 1880, p. 438; list of works by Nestor Roqueplan at WorldCat.]
Roqueplan remained unmarried and died in Paris.
See also
- Notes
- Sources
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Fauser, Annegret; Everist, Mark, editors (2009). Music, Theater, and Cultural Transfer: Paris, 1830–1914. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. .
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Fétis, François-Joseph; Pougin, Arthur (1880). Biographie universelle des musiciens, supplement, vol. 2. Paris: Didot. View at Google Books.
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Fitzlyon, April (1992). "Viardot (née Garcia), (Michelle Ferdinande) Pauline" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, pp. 981–982.
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Forbes, Elizabeth (1992). "Thomas, (Charles Louis) Ambroise" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, pp. 726–727.
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Gerhard, Anselm (1998). The Urbanization of Opera: Music theatre in Paris in the Nineteenth Century, translated from French to English by Mary Whittall. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. .
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Gounod, Charles (1896). Mémoires d'un artiste (in French). Paris: Calmann, Lévy. View at Google Books.
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Hogg, James; Marryat, Florence (1883). London Society: An Illustrated Magazine, vol. 43. London. View at Google Books.
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Huebner, Steven (1992). "Roqueplan, Nestor" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, pp. 39–40.
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Jordan, Ruth (1994). Fromental Halévy: His Life and Music, 1799–1862. London: Kahn & Averill. .
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Larousse, Pierre (1866–1890). Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle (17 volumes). Paris.
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Levin, Alicia (2009). "Appendix: A Documentary Overview of Musical Theaters in Paris, 1830–1900" in Fauser and Everist 2009, pp. 379–402.
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Millingen, J. G. (2004). The History of Dueling Including Narratives of the Most Remarkable Encounters. First Volume. . Partial view at Google Books.
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Richardson, Joanna (1969). The Bohemians: la vie de Bohème in Paris, 1830-1914. London: Macmillan. .
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Roqueplan, Nestor; Janin, Jules (1852). Critique du Juif Errant. Paris. View at Google Books.
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Roqueplan, Nestor (1853). Regain. La vie parisienne. Paris, Librairie nouvelle. . View 1869 and 1882 editions at Google Books.
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Roqueplan, Nestor (1855). Coulisses de l'Opéra. Paris: Librairie Nouvelle. View at Google Books.
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Roqueplan, Nestor (1868a). Le Baron James de Rothschild. Paris. .
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Roqueplan, Nestor (1868b). Parisine. Paris. List of editions and formats at WorldCat. View at the HathiTrust.
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Roqueplan, Nestor (1868c). Rossini. Paris: Dentu. .
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Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. .
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Tamvaco, Jean-Louis (2000). Les Cancans de l'Opéra. Chroniques de l'Académie Royale de Musique et du théâtre, à Paris sous les deux restorations (2 volumes, in French). Paris: CNRS Editions. .
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Thomas, Joseph (1908). Universal pronouncing dictionary of biography and mythology, 3rd edition, vol. 2. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott. View at Google Books.
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Wilde, Oscar, editor (1888). The Woman's World, vol. 1. London: Cassell. Source Books (1970 reprint): . View at Google Books.
