Dyaghilev's Russian ballet: history, interesting facts, repertoire and photos

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

“His absolutely pure virtue was his devotion to art, burning with sacred fire,” said Russian ballet star T. Karsavina about Sergei Diaghilev.

Born at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Sergei Diaghilev managed to fundamentally change the choreography of the ballet, revive its unshakable canons, and create a different culture of costumes and scenery. It was with the advent of Diaghilev that the concept of "Diaghilev's ballet" and ballet entreprise appeared in art.

Russian Seasons in Europe

The history of the emergence of "Russian Seasons" in Europe begins in 1906. It was then that Sergei Diaghilev, preparing an art exhibition for the Paris Autumn Salon, decided to hold large-scale events in order to more widely acquaint the European public with Russian art.

At first it was the idea of holding "Russian historicalconcerts", brilliantly brought to life. The concerts were held in 1907 and consisted of masterpieces of Russian music of the 19th and early 20th centuries. And the next season, in 1908, M. Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Godunov" was shown in Paris with Fyodor Chaliapin in leading role.

The first opera and ballet season was held by Diaghilev in 1909.

So began the triumphal procession of "Russian Seasons" abroad. The performances were organized on the principle of an enterprise, that is, not with a permanent troupe of actors, but with the invitation of the best soloists from various Russian theaters, the best artists to design costumes and scenery for performances.

This was a real revelation for the theater audience in Paris. Until the First World War, the seasons were held annually with overwhelming success.

Dyaghilev's ballet, photo poster for the 1911 season.

Origins: family passion for the arts

Date of birth of Sergei Diaghilev - March 31, 1872. Place of birth: a village in the Novgorod province called Selishchi. The future maestro appeared in the family of a hereditary nobleman and officer Pavel Diaghilev.

Sergey's childhood passed first in St. Petersburg, and then the family moved to Perm, where the Diaghilevs lived until their son graduated from the Perm gymnasium. The hospitable house of the Diaghilevs in Perm was decorated with original engravings by Raphael, Rubens and Rembrandt, catalogs of all the leading European museums crowded on the bookshelves.

Literary and musical evenings were held here. The son accompaniedpiano to the duet of father and stepmother. In a word, not a house, but the center of the cultural life of the province.

The creative and creative atmosphere in the house contributed to the emergence of a genuine craving for art in the young Sergei Diaghilev, a desire to serve the muses.

Petersburg accomplishments

In the 90s of the 19th century, he returned to St. Petersburg, where he immersed himself in the study of various sciences: he entered the conservatory and the law faculty at the same time.

However, an active nature required more exciting activities. In St. Petersburg, Sergei Diaghilev completely immerses himself in the artistic life of the capital, neglecting jurisprudence and studies under the guidance of Rimsky-Korsakov.

The activity and enthusiasm of youth did a good deed, allowing the young man to show outstanding organizational skills.

Setting a noble goal - to show the interested public the new Russian artistic art, he organizes several brilliant exhibitions of contemporary and then unknown artists. In fairness, it should be noted that these exhibitions were often an occasion for jokes by feuilletonists and angry sermons from art critics.

But soon, despite the attacks and ridicule, and maybe thanks to the scandalous exhibitions, the whole of Petersburg started talking about Diaghilev.

With the support of well-known patrons Savva Morozov and Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva, he and artist Alexander Benois become editors of the World of Art magazine. The motto of the magazine is "Art, pure and free".

This motto for many years becomes for Diaghilevand principles of life. The magazine's artists included Ilya Repin, Lev Bakst, Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov and other famous Russian artists in the future. The emergence of a real team of like-minded people, united by the publishing business, once again proved that Sergei Diaghilev is not an accidental person in art and is in demand by the time itself.

The issue of the magazine "World of Art" was the first step towards the future great "Russian Seasons". Because it was a project pursuing educational goals and dedicated to both Russian and Western culture, bringing together all modern and contemporary art forms.

"Russian Seasons" and "Russian Ballet": what is the difference

Before talking further about Diaghilev's Russian ballet, it is necessary to separate the concept of "Russian Seasons" from the concept of "Russian Ballet" in the sense in which Diaghilev understood these areas of Russian art.

For Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev, "Russian Seasons", as a new phenomenon in art, took place or began in 1906, it was by them, as by milestones, that he measured his activities, celebrated their anniversaries, indicated the numbers of the seasons on posters.

"Russian Seasons" included art exhibitions, concerts, opera and later ballet.

The phenomenon of "Dyaghilev's Russian Ballet" is associated with ballet entreprise and the appearance of unusual ballet performances, etudes and numbers - as part of the "Russian Seasons" programs, starting in 1909.

Officially, the first performance of the "Russian Ballet" took place in April 1911 in Monte Carlo, this date is considered the date of the birth of the tradition of showing ballet abroad.

In the Talent Fellowship

The triumph of the first season of Diaghilev's Russian ballet in 1909 was predetermined: the common work and efforts of many talented, and even brilliant, people cannot go to waste.

Deciding to start preparing for the season, S. Diaghilev turned to Matilda Kshesinskaya, the prima ballerina of that time, for assistance. She was close to the imperial court. The future Emperor Nicholas II, still single at that time, was in love with her. Thanks to the efforts of the ballerina, Diaghilev was promised a large subsidy of 25,000 rubles and the opportunity to hold rehearsals in the Hermitage.

The goal for Diaghilev and a team of like-minded people was not simple: to create a qualitatively different type of ballet, in which a special role should be assigned to male parts, costumes and scenery. In an effort to achieve "unity of artistic conception and performance skills", Diaghilev involved literally all future participants in the discussion of the production material: composers, artists, choreographers … All together they came up with plots, discussed the nature of music and dance, future costumes and scenery. The result is a unique synthesis of innovation and professionalism in choreography, painting, music.

At the same time, Diaghilev begins recruiting a troupe, in which he invites the best ballet dancers from the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres. Responded to the invitation of the entrepreneur: Anna Pavlova, MatildaKshesinskaya, Mikhail Fokin with his wife Vera, Ida Rubinstein, Serafima Astafyeva, Tamara Karsavina, Vatslav Nijinsky, Vera Koralli, Alexander Monakhov, Mikhail Mordkin and other dancers.

Costume and set designers: Leon Bakst, Alexander Benois, Nicholas Roerich.

"Russian Seasons" Diaghilev, ballet troupe backstage.

"Seasonal" obstacles

Not everything went smoothly when preparing the first ballet performances for the Russian Seasons.

In the midst of the rehearsals, a ban came on to continue holding them in the Hermitage, and the subsidy was also closed. The last boiling point was the refusal to provide costumes and scenery by the Mariinsky Theatre.

There were several reasons for almost finishing work on "seasons". First, Prince Vladimir Alexandrovich, Diaghilev's patron, died. And secondly, Matilda Kshesinskaya was offended by the entrepreneur because she got a minor role in the ballet "Pavilion of Artemis" instead of the expected leading roles.

By the way, Diaghilev was adamant in choosing the leading actors for the main roles, this is a great "vision" of the artist, when all the current or previous merits of the artist in this context turned out to be powerless. There was a similar story in the season when "The Dying Swan" was shown to the music of the then unknown composer Saint-Saens. Initially, choreographer Mikhail Fokine involved his wife Vera Fokina in the dance, but Diaghilev said that he could dance the swanonly Pavlova. As a result, for several decades the world received an amazingly expressive dance performed by Anna Pavlova, and the impresario, as always, turned out to be right.

Dyaghilev's ballet in Paris: Anna Pavlova as a wounded swan. The belly area of the ballerina costume is decorated with a huge ruby, symbolizing blood from a wound.

Feathers on the costume and headdress are natural, swan-like.

Dyagilev's ballet: the costumes for the performances were decorated with natural jewels, embroidered with patterns. Various natural materials were also used in the decoration.

Returning to the story about the preparations for the opening of the Diaghilev Russian Ballet in 1909, we must also recall the fact that the director of all the imperial theaters, Telyakovsky, created additional obstacles. In fact, the combination of difficulties that arose provided a resounding failure for Russian Seasons.

But the failure did not take place: Diaghilev was helped by old friends and patrons. Prince Argutinsky-Dolgorukov and Countess Maria (Misya) Sert helped with the financing by raising the necessary money.

Paris applauds: audience in ecstasy

The Diaghilev Ballet arrives in Paris in April 1909. The stage of the famous Châtelet Theater was rented for showing performances. Upon arrival, work was launched to prepare the theater for the reception of new performances and scenery:

• the stage was enlarged;
• updated interior;
• boxes are arranged in the stalls.

The last rehearsals were going on. Time, desire and opportunity coincided. MichaelFokine introduced his own ideas of choreography into the ballet, which corresponded to the ideas of Diaghilev.

The repertoire of 1909 included five ballets staged by novice choreographer Mikhail Fokin:

• "The Pavilion of Armida" is a performance in one act and three acts; the script and design based on it were written by Alexander Benois, music by Nikolai Tcherepnin; the part of Madeleine and Armida was performed by V. Coralli, Vicomte de Beaugency by M. Mordkin; The slave of Armida was danced by V. Nijinsky.
• "Polovtsian Dances" is the ballet part of the opera "Prince Igor" to the music of Borodin, when the ballet fragment took the form of an independent 15-minute performance; set design by N. Roerich, performers Adolf Bolm, Sofya Fedorova 2nd, soloist of the Mariinsky Theater E. Smirnova.
• "Feast" is a divertissement to the music of national dances composed by Russian composers - Glinka's mazurka, Mussorgsky's "Gopak", Rimsky-Korsakov's march from "The Golden Cockerel", Glinka's lezginka, Glazunov's chardash; "Feast" completed the showing of Diaghilev's Russian ballet, and its purpose was to show the audience the entire troupe in the most spectacular and characteristic dances. The Feast ended with a stormy excerpt from Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony. All the stars danced the padekatre together, it was a triumph for the artists.

Brilliant sequel

The first three performances were shown on May 19, and on June 2, 1909, the premieres of the performances took place: "The Sylphs" and "Cleopatra".

The show of the ballet "La Sylphides" or "Chopiniana" took place with the participation of TamaraKarsavina, Anna Pavlova, Alexandra Baldina, Vaslav Nijinsky to music from works by Chopin, arranged by D. Gershwin, orchestrated by A. Glazunov, A. Lyadov, S. Taneyev, N. Cherepnin.

The costumes were designed by Leon Bakst based on lithographs by the Italian ballerina Maria Taglioni, famous in the 19th century, as the Sylph.

The performance was received with enthusiasm, and the painting by Serov, based on the impressions of the performance with the image of Anna Pavlova, will become the hallmark of Diaghilev's ballet for many years.

Cleopatra

The performance based on the story of Theophile Gauthier has undergone significant modernization. Mikhail Fokin introduced into the new musical edition, in addition to the music of Arensky, works by Glazunov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Lyadov, Cherepnin. The result is a tragic ending with dances expressing true passion and grief.

Leo Bakst created sketches for new scenes and costumes. The magic of Ancient Egypt, music and dancers fully justified the expectations of the audience with the unusual performance.

The action took place in the courtyard of the temple between the red statues of the gods, the background was the magnificent shining waters of the Nile. The audience was captivated by the sensuality and expressiveness of the production and the leading lady Ida Rubinstein.

On the photo: Diaghilev's Russian ballet, L. Bakst's painting for the dance of the "seven veils" of Cleopatra.

The famous French writer and playwright Jean Cocteau wrote that one can briefly characterize Diaghilev's Russian ballet as follows: “Thiscelebration over Paris, shining like the “chariot of Dionysus.”

So it's done and brilliant.

Chores and style

There were many successes, ups and downs along the way of Diaghilev's seasons. But it was a living organism in constant development. The desire for something new, the search for the art of the unprecedented - these are the results of the great impresario.

Sergei Leonidovich Grigoriev, the permanent director and administrator of the troupe, believed that Diaghilev's ballets also developed from the influence of choreographers.

List of choreographers who created new stages in the development of ballet art:

• The time of creativity in the entreprise of M. M. Fokin, which begins in 1909 and continues until 1912, also with his participation, productions of 1914 were created. Mikhail Fokin succeeded in changing the classical choreography, highlighting the male ballet parts as new dance forms, and enriching the plasticity of the dance.
• The second period in the development of "Russian ballet" is the years of V. F. Nijinsky's work, from 1912 to 1913, 1916. It is hard to underestimate the experience of a dancer and choreographer in trying to create a new ballet full of feelings, emotions and amazing technique.

Dyagilev Ballet, photo of soloist and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky.

• The next step in the introduction of innovations in ballet art was the work of L. F. Myasin in the Diaghilev troupe, and covers the period from 1915 to 1920, 1928. Myasin, developing the traditions of Fokine, complicated the dance pattern as much as possible, introducingbroken lines, pretentiousness and sophistication of movements, while creating your own unique style.
• The fourth stage of development on the path of the development of the Russian ballet of Diaghilev was the period of creativity of Bronislava Nijinska, starting from the seasons 1922 - 1924 and 1926. This is the time of the neoclassical style of ballet.
• And, finally, the fifth stage of development is the years of work with Diaghilev George Balanchine from 1924 to 1929. The years when the choreographer managed to establish new forms of the 20th century, the ideas of symphony ballets, the idea of the primacy of expression over the plot.

However, regardless of who was the director, Diaghilev's Russian Ballet retained freedom of search, was a symbol of avant-garde and innovative solutions in art, a premonition of the trends of the times.

For decades he will remain an uncaptured, free and coveted Firebird.

A folk tale or a new triumph of Diaghilev's ballet in Paris

Speaking of the fairy-tale motifs that make up many plots of performances staged on the stages of France, one cannot but recall the most successful premiere of 1910.

This is a production on the theme of the story of the Firebird, the idea of which was nurtured by Mikhail Fokin for a long time. At first Lyadov was ordered to write music, but since he did not start writing it even after three months, Diaghilev decided to turn to Stravinsky, whom he considered the new genius of Russian music.

The composer, choreographer and artist worked closely together in the process of creating the ballet, helping each other, sharing creative advice. It was a union that gave the stage a new ballet, mixed with modernist painting,folklore and avant-garde music. Gorgeous scenery by Alexander Golovin carried the viewer into a fairy-tale world.

The uniqueness was that Diaghilev's new ballet, costumes for it were decorated with gold and jewels, embroidered with folk ornaments and fur.

Starring: T. Karsavina - Firebird, Mikhail Fokine - Ivan Tsarevich, V. Fokina - Princess, A. Bulgakov - Koschei.

Thanks to the ballet "Firebird" the world got to know the great Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, who for the next 18 years will collaborate with Diaghilev and create truly amazing music for the ballets "Petrushka", "The Rite of Spring" and others.

Dyagilev's ballet: firebird, costume design for the ballet, artist L. Bakst.

The scandalous failure of the "Parade"

Like any great artist, Diaghilev subordinated everything to the idea of innovation, he was not afraid to be "premature", to go against the grain.

Many ballet performances were sometimes so avant-garde in music, choreography or painting that they were misunderstood by the audience, and their significance was appreciated much later.

So it was with the scandalous failure of the premiere in Paris of "The Rite of Spring" to the music of Stravinsky, with the outrageous choreography of "Faun" by Nijinsky, the first performance of the ballet "Parade" was waiting for the failure.

The ballet was staged in 1917. In the context of the performance, the word "parade" meant an invitation to barkers and fair jesters before the performance, invitingaudience in the circus booth. In the form of advertisements, they showed the audience small excerpts from the performance that awaits them.

This is a one-act ballet to music by Enrique Satie, set and costume designer Pablo Picasso, script written by Jean Cocteau, choreographer Leonid Myasin.

On the photo: costumes for the ballet "Parade", Diaghilev with a new production in Paris.

Some of Picasso's cubist costumes only allowed the dancers to walk around the stage or make minor movements.

The Parisian public considered cubism to be a German creation in art. And since the First World War was going on, the performance was perceived as a mockery and a challenge. The audience shouted "Damn boshi!" and rushed into the fray to the stage. In the press, the Russian Ballet was declared almost traitors to the ideas of freedom.

Despite the first scandalous performance, this ballet became a transitional milestone in the art of the 20th century, both in music and stage painting. And Sati's ragtime music was later adapted into a piano solo.

The last tour and some interesting facts from the life of Russian ballet

Sergei Diaghilev is rightfully considered one of the founders of Russian show business. He not only embodied all the trends of the time on the stage, but also paved the way for new techniques and styles at other levels: in painting, music, performing arts.

His "Russian Seasons" still inspire creative people to find new ways of artistic expression of time.

Special achievements and facts aboutDiaghilev Russian Ballet:

• There were 20 "Russian Seasons" in total, in which ballet was involved. Although initially Diaghilev did not plan to include ballet performances in the concert program.
• For the staging of the eight-minute ballet number "Afternoon of a Faun", V. Nijinsky conducted a total of ninety dance rehearsals.
• S. Diaghilev was an avid collector. In 1929, he acquired letters from A. Pushkin addressed to N. Goncharova in his collection. They were handed over to him before leaving for a tour of Venice. The impresario was late for the train and postponed the reading of the letters for a while after the end of the tour, putting the collectible rarities in the safe. But he never returned from Venice.
• The last to see Diaghilev were Misya Sert and Coco Chanel. They came to visit him during his illness. They also paid for his funeral, since Diaghilev did not have any money with him.
• The monument to Diaghilev in the Orthodox part of the San Michele cemetery is engraved with a phrase written by the great impresario a few days before his death: "Venice is the constant inspirer of our reassurance."
• Igor Stravinsky and Joseph Brodsky are buried near the grave of S. Diaghilev.