Meyerbeer belonged to the theater and sought above everything else theatrical effects.

But that does not mean that he was indifferent to details.

He was a wealthy man and he used to indemnify the theaters for the extra expense he occasioned them.

He multiplied rehearsals by trying different versions with the orchestra so as to choose between them.

He did not cast his work in bronze, as so many do, and present it to the public _ne varietur._ He was continually feeling his way, recasting, and seeking the better which very often was the enemy of good.