 The success of the opera led to Meyerbeer himself becoming a celebrity . In January 1832 he was awarded membership of the Légion d 'honneur . This success – coupled with Meyerbeer 's known family wealth – inevitably also precipitated envy amongst his peers . Berlioz – who had commented that ' Meyerbeer not only had the luck to be talented , he had the talent to be lucky ' – wrote ' I can 't forget that Meyerbeer was only able to persuade [ the Opéra ] to put on Robert le diable ... by paying the administration sixty thousand francs of his own money ' ; and Chopin lamented ' Meyerbeer had to work for three years and pay his own expenses for his stay in Paris before Robert le diable could be staged .... Three years , that 's a lot – it 's too much . ' King Frederick William III of Prussia who attended the second performance of Robert le diable , swiftly invited him to compose a German opera , and Meyerbeer was invited to stage Robert in Berlin . Within a few years the opera had been staged with success all over Europe , and also in the USA . 
