Rossini asserted that he’d succeeded in visiting Beethoven in Vienna, his second attempt finding the great man cordial though living in what Rossini termed squalor. Chopin was impressed by him, Saint-Saëns had his support, Verdi (an admirer) was a correspondent. Fellow bon-viveur Balzac threw a party for him, while at one of Dumas’ he went dressed up as Figaro. Among other Paris friends were Cherubini, Paganini, Bellini and Chateaubriand. He received Wagner after a première, without having too much time for his music, and said that he and Meyerbeer could never agree, Meyerbeer preferring sauerkraut to macaroni.