Pierre Perrin

Who was Pierre Perrin?

Pierre Perrin was a French poet and librettist.

Perrin, sometimes known as L'Abbé Perrin although he never belonged to the clergy, was born in Lyon. He founded the Académie Royale de Musique, which was to eventually become the Opéra de Paris.

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. 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 Jean-Baptiste Lully. 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.