Andre Messager: Fortunio

André Messager’s Fortunio premiered in 1907 at the Opéra Comique, where it received acclaim that was to last decades. One of the last composers to devote his entire career to opera and operetta, Messager exemplified in his music a feeling for dramatic pacing and the spirit of the Belle Époque, qualities that permeate Fortunio, a comédie lyrique in which the dialogue in the libretto is given a continuous musical setting. Taking Alfred de Musset’s play Le Chandelier as his source, Messager explores upper-class society at the turn of the 19th century with subtlety of characterization and a thoroughly French orchestral transparency. This production directed by Denis Podalydes features Cyrille Dubois in the title role, alongside soprano Anne-Catherine Gillet, and baritone Franck Leguerinel, among others.