The older Spontini was an early collaborator; Wagner was impressed by his conductor’s baton. Meyerbeer tried but failed to get Wagner’s operatic work staged in Paris, despite Wagner’s personal hostility. Baudelaire admired and wrote about his music; Gautier was a correspondent. Schumann thought Wagner talked too much, while he thought Schumann had nothing to say. Nietzsche, a regular visitor, was much influenced by Wagner, and dedicated his first book to him. Liszt helped him get a fake passport, and get his operas performed; they stayed professional friends despite Liszt’s displeasure at becoming his father-in-law.