MESSAGER, ANDR

born Dec. 30, 1853, Montluon, France died Feb. 24, 1929, Paris in full Andr-charles-prosper Messager French conductor and composer whose operettas achieved popularity in France and England. Messager established his reputation with his operetta La Barnaise (performed Paris, 1885; London, 1886). Between 1890 and 1926 he produced 14 operettas, including Madame Chrysanthme (1893; on a plot similar to Puccini's Madama Butterfly), Mirette (1894), and Monsieur Beaucaire (1919). Of his three ballets Les Deux Pigeons (1886) was especially well known. He wrote in a light, elegant style that was characteristically Parisian. He became director of the Opra-Comique in Paris in 1898, then artistic director of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden (190106), and later associate director of the Paris Opra. He conducted the first performance (1902) of Claude Debussy's Pellas et Mlisande. His wife was the Irish composer Hope Temple (Dotie Davies; 18591938).