Jean-Pierre Solié

Jean-Pierre Solié (also Soulier, Solier, Sollié; 1755 in Nîmes – 6 August 1812 in Paris) was a French cellist and operatic singer. He began as a tenor, but switched and became well known as a baritone. He sang most often at the Paris Opéra-Comique. He also became a prolific composer, writing primarily one-act comic operas.

His father was a cellist with the orchestra at the theatre in Nîmes, and Solié likewise learned to play the cello. But he also learned to sing and play the guitar, and became a choirboy in the cathedral. As he got older he began traveling to nearby towns in southern France, where he played cello in local theatre orchestras and supplemented his income by giving lessons in guitar and singing. In 1778 in Avignon he was called upon to replace an ailing tenor in André Grétry's La Rosière de Salency and made such a good impression, he was hired to sing tenor roles. Later he was asked to go to Paris to perform two roles with the Opéra-Comique, where he first sang in Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny's Félix on 31 August 1782 and later in Grétry's L'amant jaloux. His success was limited, and he returned to the provinces, working and singing in Nancy and Lyon.

By 1787 he was back in Paris performing minor roles, but on 26 March 1789 he replaced Jean-Baptiste Clairval with great success in the premiere of Girard de Propiac's La fausse paysanne. By this time his voice was becoming more that of a baritone. Baritones were somewhat unusual at that time at the Opéra-Comique, but the composer Étienne Méhul began creating leading baritone roles for Solié, including Alibour in Euphrosine (4 September 1790), Erasistrate in Stratonice (3 May 1792), and Jacob in Joseph (17 February 1807). Grétry also had a high regard for Solié, in particular as an actor: "l'excellent acteur, le citoyen Solier".

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