《Messager and Puccini》

Henry Février, one of Messager's disciples, described Messager as "my teacher and good friend" in his writing in 1948. According to his writing, Messager and Puccini stayed in Villa d'Este by the lake Como in Italy. There, Messager composed "Madame Chrysanthème," and Puccini composed "Manon Lescaut". Giulio Ricordi, President of music publisher Ricordi in Milan, arranged their stay. Back then, Messager was already a prominent musician in France, having served as the leading conductor at the Paris Opera Comique. Puccini was still a young, rising composer before publishing "Manon Lescaut". What was remarkable was that Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" was performed in May of the same year in Milan for the first time, and earned positive reviews. "Pagliacci" was published by Sonzogno, Ricordi's competitor publisher. Giulio Ricordi staked his company's future on Puccini's talent and performance in Paris. This was why he invited Messager and Puccini to Villa d'Este together. Both composers played their new music scores on the piano. Probably, they also studied "Pagliacci" which had its premier few months back. Consequently, "Madame Chrysanthème" and "Manon Lescaut" have some parts clearly influenced by "Pagliacci". Also, the Flower Duet in "Madama Butterfly" has clear influence from the duet by Okiku- san and Oyuki in "Madame Chrysanthème". Their stay in Villa d'Este in that summer was a historically important event. As a side note, there is a sketch of rehearsal in the Paris Opera Comique in 1906. It depicts the conductor, Messager, with Puccini and Giulio Ricordi. The three were business partners. Puccini was already a member of great composers.