Monsieur Beaucaire (opera)

The French premiere was delayed by difficulties in finding a suitable theatre; it opened at the Théâtre Marigny, Paris on 21 November 1925, with a French adaptation by André Rivoire and Pierre Veber,[1] and starring Marcelle Denya, Renée Camia, and André Baugé.

[3] The composer stated that he began work on Monsieur Beaucaire following a meeting with impresario Gilbert Miller in 1916.

[1] Messager's career in London, which included a six-year stint as music director at Covent Garden, concluded with Monsieur Beaucaire, his second and last opera in English.

To obtain revenge, Winterset persuades Captain Badger, a famous swordsman, to quarrel with Beaucaire, who challenges him to a duel.

The King of France is dead, and, out of danger, Beaucaire reveals himself as the Duke of Orleans and announces that Mary will be his future Duchess, to everyone's delight.

Miss Maggie Teyte, surrounded by half a dozen lovers on the stage, may be sure of as many hundreds in the auditorium, and Mr. Marion Green, every inch the Noble Personage, has a voice to match.

Miss Alice Moffat and Mr. John Clarke together make the subsidiary lovers attractive, and Mr. Robert Parker is the very image of courtly vice.

"[5] In The Observer, Ernest Newman, having made some mild criticisms of the score and some harsher ones of the libretto, concluded that the piece was "a delightful entertainment, that one can picture oneself going to see a number of times.

"[6] In The Manchester Guardian, Samuel Langford praised the work, with reservations about the clichéd libretto, but regretted that there was not more music.

[7] A series of 78rpm records were made by British Columbia in London in 1919 at the time of the creation, with Marion Green, Maggie Teyte, Alice Moffat, and John Clarke, with the Prince's Theatre Orchestra conducted by Kennedy Russell.

Extended extracts were recorded in Paris in 1952, with Martha Angelici, Liliane Berton, Michel Dens, René Lenoty, and Gilbert Moryn, conducted by Jules Gressier.

On 27 March 1958, French Radio broadcast a complete performance (since issued on CD) with Lina Dachary, Willy Clément, Nicole Broissin, René Lenoty, Lucien Lovano, Henri Bedex, Jacques Pruvost, Georges Foix, Marcel Enot, and André Balbon, with the Choeurs and Orchestre Radio Lyrique de la RTF, conducted again by Jules Gressier.