Daniel Auber scored his first public success with a 3-act opéra-comique in 1820 and from then, until his death in 1871, he held a leading position in the field.

He achieved lasting successes with such works as Fra Daviolo (1831), Le domino noir (1837) and Les diamants de la couronne (1847).

MIDI FILE - from "Fra Diavolo": Romanza (1'15'')

One of his most significant and dramatic works is La meutte de Portici: the tenor-baritone duet in Act II supposedly set off a patriotic fervour that precipitated the Belgian struggle for independence from Holland in 1830.