Mendelssohn’s Dislike of Meyerbeer

Felix Mendelssohn had a strong dislike for Giacomo Meyerbeer’s music. To him, his own writing was polished, elegant, and scholarly—free of cheap “clap‑trap” effects aimed at showy applause. Meyerbeer, though often genuinely skillful (especially in orchestration), also leaned into blunt, sensational tricks.

The irony was that the two men looked oddly alike. Both were of Jewish descent, both had a recognizably Hebrew cast of face, both were slender, and both wore their hair in a similar style.

Mendelssohn’s aversion to the music spilled over into personal irritation—especially when friends teased him about resembling the composer he detested. In Paris, after one round of jokes, he stormed off to a barber and had his hair cut short to kill the resemblance.

It backfired immediately: the new haircut only sparked a fresh wave of jokes about the same hated likeness.