The most important person in the French comic opera legacy and the leading opera composer in France during the first twenty five years of the 19th century. Boieldieu studied with Charles Broche who was learned in the tradition of Couperin. His contemporaries included Auber, Cherubini, and Berlioz. The qualities of Boieldieu's music included numerous rich melodies that were easily facilitated. They almost seem extemporaneous but he could compose melodies only through singing. Boieldieu could compose harmonies that were simple and in the contextual patterns of the time as well as in the more contemporary and innovative styles. Essentially, however, he did no stray far from the expectations of contemporaries and public. Romances, operas, comic operas and numerous stage works were his forte. Because of his abilities Boieldieu was considered to be the French Mozart. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi