Jacques de Vismes
Anne-Pierre-Jacques de Vismes, or Devismes, (1745, Paris – 1819, Caudebec-en-Caux) was a French writer and administrator.[1]
Closely associated with the powerful interests of the
Biography
Anne-Pierre-Jacques de Vismes du Valgay was the son of Martin de Vismes,
Vismes was Deputy Director of the tax farms when, in September 1777, he applied for the governance of the Royal Academy of Music. His proposal, which was accepted, was that he would give a bond of 500,000 livres tournois, the city of Paris would pay him an annual allowance of 80,000 livres tournois and that his privilege would last for twelve years.
He took over on 1 April 1778 and displayed great activity. In less than a year, he revived the main works of Lully, Rameau and Gluck, brought the first troupe of jesters ever heard in Paris, began to accustom the public to musical intermèdes by Paisiello and Anfossi and gave two operas by Piccinni, Roland and Atys.
The presentation of these two plays initiated a second phase of the
Vismes returned to the Opera in 1799, as co-administrator. He became director on 18 March 1800 only to see his functions abolished by an order of 28 December that same year. He then retired to Normandy, where he died.
De Vismes wrote Pasilogie, ou la Musique considérée comme langue universelle ; Paris, 1806, in 8° ; Éléonore d’Amboise, duchesse de Bretagne, historical novel, Paris, 1807, 2 vol. in-12, Recherches nouvelles sur l’origine et la destruction des pyramides d’Égypte, suivies d’une Dissertation sur la fin du globe terrestre, Paris, 1812, in 8°.
He gave the
He was the brother of playwright and
Notes
Sources
- Ferdinand Hoefer, « Anne-Pierre-Jacques de Vismes », Nouvelle Biographie générale, t. 46, Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1866, p. 298-9.
- Pitou, Spire (1985). The Paris Opera: An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers. Rococo and Romantic, 1715–1815. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313243943.
External links
- His works and their presentations on CÉSAR
- Anne-Pierre-Jacques Devismes on Data.bnf.fr