A pupil of Cherubini at the Paris Conservatoire, Fromental Halévy boasted among his own pupils Gounod and Saint-Saëns, as well as Bizet, who was to marry one of his daughters.

Operas

Halévy was closely involved with opera in Paris, in addition to his duties at the Conservatoire. He wrote some 40 operas, of which the best-known remains La Juive (‘The Jewess’), staged at the Opéra in 1835. A grand opera, it reflects the continuing influence of Meyerbeer.