La Reine de Chypre

Born in Paris, composer Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy (known more widely as Fromental Halévy) greatly influenced French grand opera. Halévy entered conservatory at age nine, winning awards and attention in his youth before gaining tremendous popularity in the early 1830s. His 1835 masterpiece La juive, with a libretto by Eugène Scribe, secured his status in French opera. In 1851, Halévy became a full professor of composition at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he taught several important composers of the next generation of French music, including Georges Bizet and Camille Saint-Saëns.