In 1885 he became a naturalized French citizen, and two years later was appointed to succeed Ernest Altès as chief conductor of the Paris Opera at the Palais Garnier (1887–91). He conducted "Messiah" (in the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart arrangement) at the 1889 Paris World's Fair, with Gabriel Fauré at the organ. This performance was not particularly well-reviewed. Also he directed first performances of Camille Saint-Saëns's "Ascanio" (1890) and Jules Massenet's "Le mage" (1891).