in 1828 daniel auber, a famous french composer of the time, had composed a very popular opera called "la muette de portici". it was the first french grand opera. meyerbeer realized he could not become really popular by turning his italian operas into french grand opera, so he took his comic opera "robert le diable" and changed it into a grand opera. audiences loved it. within three years it had been performed in 77 theatres in 10 different countries. many composers made their own arrangements of some of the tunes from the opera. he was given many honours: the chevalier of the legion d’honneur, the title of prussian hof kapellmeister (director of music at the royal court), and was made a member of the prussian academy of arts and a member of the french institute.