Both Wagner and Berlioz were known opium users. Besides a drug addiction, Wagner often wrote in favour of vegetarianism - and even persuaded Mahler to become a vegetarian - for a short time .
However, unlike Percy Grainger, he struggled to stick to his diet plans. His wife Cosima Wagner declared that, ‘in practice… neither his health nor the orders of his physician allowed him to be a vegetarian.’
Wagner was indulgent beyond just his taste for good food and opium. He enjoyed wearing expensive clothing, writing a request to one couturier for a dressing gown with ‘richness of…material, width, ruches, flounces, bustles, ribbons – all to the good.’ He even wore silk underwear!
