 The <unk> campaign of Richard Wagner against Meyerbeer was to a great extent responsible for the decline of Meyerbeer 's popularity after his death in 1864 . This campaign was as much a matter of personal spite as of racism – Wagner had learnt a great deal from Meyerbeer and indeed Wagner 's early opera Rienzi ( 1842 ) was <unk> called by Hans von Bülow ' Meyerbeer 's best opera ' . Meyerbeer supported the young Wagner , both financially and in helping to obtain the premiere productions of both Rienzi and The Flying Dutchman at Dresden . 
