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Auber was almost exclusively an operatic composer, and gained unique popularity in this field. His operas were performed in all theaters and he acquired the nickname "Prince of Comic Opera". He was a genuinely Parisian composer. In his music he is unerringly elegant and witty, clear and cultivated. Today his fame rests chiefly on his dashing and sparkling overtures, and two operas, Masaniello, also known as La Muette de Portici (The Dumb Girl of Portici), and Fra Diavolo. The former work is more serious than the remainder of his enormous output. From 1842 Auber was director of the Paris Conservatory, and during the Second Empire he was court conductor. His music is marked by fiery rhythms and it is said that the revolutionary spirit and exhilarating music of Masaniello, when it was performed in Brussels in 1839, signaled the revolution which brought about Belgium´s separation from Holland.

(Contribution by Raúl Izaguirre Avila <rizaguiyahoo.com>.)