La Basoche
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La Basoche is an opéra comique in three acts, with music by André Messager and words by Albert Carré. The opera is set in Paris in 1514 and depicts the complications that arise when the elected "king" of the student guild, the Basoche, is mistaken for King Louis XII of France.
Scene from original production
Programme for the first London production, 1891
Sala del palazzo del re, set design for La Basoche act 3 (1893).
Act 1 in the original production
André Messager
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André Charles Prosper Messager was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage works, among which his ballet Les Deux Pigeons (1886) and opéra comique Véronique (1898) have had lasting success; Les p'tites Michu (1897) and Monsieur Beaucaire (1919) were also popular internationally.
Four of Messager's musical influences: clockwise from top left, Saint-Saëns; Fauré; Gigout; Chabrier
Poster for François les bas-bleus, 1883. The names of both the composers are in small print just below the title.
Scene from La Basoche, 1890
Poster for Les P'tites Michu, 1897