André Messager

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

He studied at Paris, and was for some time a pupil of Saint-Saëns at the École Niedermeyer. In 1874 he became organist at St 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.

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.

But it was the production of his comic opera La Basoche in 1890 at the Opéra Comique (English version in London the following year) that established his reputation; and subsequently this was increased by such tuneful and tasteful light operas as Madame Chrysanthème (1893), Mirelte (1894), Les p'tites Michu (1897), and Véronique (1898), the latter of which had a great success in London.

Besides conducting for some years at the Opéra Comique in Paris, Messager's services were also secured in London in 1901 and later years as one of the directors of the Covent Garden opera.

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

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