*1784 Brunswick - †1859 Kassel
At the early age of 15, Louis Spohr was appointed Kammermusiker (chamber musician) by the Duke of Brunswick, who was also instrumental in arranging Spohr’s further musical training. In 1804, he debuted as a violin virtuoso at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Concert tours took him around Germany, Switzerland and Italy, where he met Paganini. In 1813, he was appointed Kapellmeister at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, and in 1817, at the opera in Frankfurt, where he was able to stage his own operas Faust and Zemire und Azor.
Louis Spohr stayed in Frankfurt for two years and was made honorary member of the Museumsgesellschaft. For many years, he kept in close contact with Beethoven, both as a fellow composer and as a friend. It was under Spohr’s direction that Beethoven’s symphonies were regularly performed in Frankfurt for the first time.
Further information:
Spohr Museum www.spohr-museum.de