 In Paris Meyerbeer had been asked by Louis Véron , the director of the Opéra , for a new work . At first he attempted to persuade Véron to accept the opéra @-@ comique Le <unk> to a libretto by Scribe , which he had been contracted to compose in early 1831 ; but Véron insisted on a full five @-@ act piece . Together with Scribe , Meyerbeer reviewed many subjects before deciding , in 1832 , on Les Huguenots . The contract which Meyerbeer signed with Véron contained a penalty clause if the work was not delivered by the end of 1833 . When the time came and the opera was not ready , Véron claimed his 30 @,@ 000 francs under this clause ; Meyerbeer was perhaps unique amongst composers in being able to pay this . In fact Véron <unk> the money under a further agreement , when the opera was delivered in late 1834 ; but <unk> himself was replaced as director of the Opera by Henri Duponchel before Les Huguenots was premiered on 29 February 1836 . It was an immediate and immense success , its splendid staging and effects exceeding even those of Fromental Halévy 's La <unk> , which had premiered the previous year . Berlioz called the score " a musical <unk> " , and the singing , especially of Nourrit and Falcon , was universally praised . Les Huguenots was the first opera to be performed at the Opéra more than 1 @,@ 000 times ( the 1,000th performance being on 16 May 1906 ) and continued to be produced up to 1936 , more than a century after its premiere . Its many performances in all other of the world 's major opera houses give it a claim to being the most successful opera of the 19th century . 
