orig. Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer
born Sept. 5, 1791, Tasdorf, near Berlin, Ger.
died May 2, 1864, Paris, Fr.
German composer.
Brother of the astronomer Wilhelm Beer and the playwright Michael Beer, he achieved early success as a pianist. After he studied vocal writing in Italy, his Italian operas were well received. In Paris from с 1825, he undertook work on a libretto by Eugène Scribe , and his Robert le Diable (1831) was one of opera's greatest triumphs from its premiere. Three later grand operas also became part of the international repertoire: Les Huguenots (1836), Le Prophète (1849), and L'Africaine (1864). Richard Wagner 's criticism of Meyerbeer's "desertion" of German music, tainted by jealousy and anti-Semitism, led to neglect of his music for many years, but Meyerbeer exercised unmistakable influence on both Giuseppe Verdi and Wagner himself.