Beethoven was a great friend of Spohr’s, met in Vienna. Hummel, shown work in progress, encouraged him, while Meyerbeer tried out piano parts (Spohr not being much of a pianist). Paganini, with whom he travelled in Italy, admired him (Spohr thought him both a genius and childish). The 8-year-old Wagner lived next door: Spohr later championed his work, and stayed with him at Mendelssohn’s. Weber, unwilling to move to Kassel for a post he’d been offered, proposed Spohr instead; outwardly friendly, Spohr was privately reserved about Weber’s music. Liszt and Berlioz were encountered at a Beethovian celebration in Bonn.