Meyerbeer, Giacomo (5 September 1794, Berlin; 2 May 1864, Paris), composer, was the son of a wealthy banker named Beer and the pleased recipient of a large legacy from a rich relative called Meyer, whence his compound name of Meyerbeer. A child prodigy, he took lessons from Lauska at age four, played Mozart’s D Minor Concerto at a public concert in Berlin at seven, and published pieces for the piano at 12. His father acknowledged his talent and arranged for him to take lessons from…