Meyerbeer, Giacomo, originally Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer 1791-1864
German composer of operas

Born in Berlin, he played Mozart's D-minor Piano Concerto in public at seven. His earlier works were unsuccessful, but in Vienna he attracted attention as a pianist. After three years' study in Italy he produced operas in the new (Rossini's) style, which were immediately well received. After a careful study of French opera, he wrote the popular Robert le Diable (1831, libretto by Eug�ne Scribe), and followed it in 1836 by the even more successful Huguenots. Appointed kapellmeister at Berlin, he composed several more well-received works, but was severely condemned by Schumann and Richard Wagner on the ground that he made everything subsidiary to theatrical effect.