André Messager

André Charles Prosper Messager (December 30, 1853 - February 24, 1929), French composer and musician, was born at Montluçon.

Life and career

André Messager studied at Paris, at the École Niedermeyer and was for some time a pupil of Saint-Saëns and Gabriel Fauré (with whom he collaborated on the "Messe des pêcheurs de Villerville"). In 1874 Messager was appointed organist at Saint-Sulpice. In 1876, he won the gold medal of the Société des Compositeurs with a symphony. In 1880 he was appointed music director at Ste Marie-des-Batignolles.

Messager composed 45 works for the stage, of which eight were ballets. He also composed a symphony in 1875 and numerous songs and instrumental works. In 1883 he completed Firmin Bernicat's comic opera "François des bas bleus"; and in 1885 produced his own operettas, "La Fauvette du temple" and "La Béarnaise", the latter being performed in London in 1886. His ballet "Les Deux pigeons" was produced at the Paris Opera in 1886.

Messager's comic opera "La Basoche" was produced in 1890 at the Opéra Comique in Paris (an English version was produced in London in 1891 by Richard D'Oyly Carte) and established his reputation. Subsequently, this was increased by such tuneful and tasteful operettas as "Madame Chrysanthème" (1893), "Mirette" (1894, produced by Carte at the Savoy Theatre), the successful "Les p'tites Michu" (1897, which had a run of 401 performances at Daly's Theatre in London eight years later in 1905-06), and "Véronique" (1898), Messager's most successful comic opera in England. "Véronique" enjoyed a run of 496 performances on the West End six years after its Paris opening, in 1904-05.

Also very successful was "Monsieur Beaucaire" (1919), Messager's second English-language operetta, which ran for 400 performances in London and was toured internationally. It is still performed regularly in translation in France. Other Messager operas included "Fortunio" (1907), "L'amour masque" (1923), and "Passionement" (1928).

Besides conducting for some years at the Opéra Comique in Paris, Messager also conducted in London in 1901, and in later years he was one of the directors of Covent Garden opera.

Messager died in 1929 and was interred in the Passy Cemetery.

References

*Wagstaff, John. "Andre Messager: A Bio-Biography" Greenwood Press (1991).
*Traubner, Richard. "Operetta: A Theatrical History" (2003) Routledge, pp. 222-32. ISBN 0415966418 [http://books.google.com/books?id=cyC-YCK7FigC&pg=PA221&lpg=PA221&dq=%22les+p+tites+michu%22+1897&source=web&ots=MQNXhtebEj&sig=id46D_CzUDVgQVVW1iPyszEEysQ#PPA232,M1 Partly available online here]

External links

* [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/whowaswho/M/MessagerAndre.htm Profile of Messager]
* [http://musicaltheatreguide.com/composers/messager/messager_andre.htm List of stage works by Messager]
* [http://hector.ucdavis.edu/sdc/ Société des concerts du Conservatoire]
* [http://www.opera.ge/eng/viewrepertoire.php?id=9&option=singleview Tbilisi Opera and Ballet]

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