During the first ten years of his life in Paris Cherubini concentrated on writing dramatic stage works. After 1800 things became more difficult for him in this field. Napoleon was ruling in France, and the two men did not like one another much. The audiences expected an Italian composer to write beautiful melodies rather than anything dramatic. The Feydeau Theatre, where he had enjoyed several triumphs, did not exist any more. Cherubini concentrated on his teaching at the Paris Conservatoire. Even after Napoleon had lost his power Cherubini left it to younger people, such as Rossini and Giacomo Meyerbeer, to compose operas. He preferred to write religious pieces.