Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev (
Sergej Pavlovič Dâgilev), also referred to as
Serge, (
March 19,
1872 "
August 19,
1929) was a
Russian art critic, patron,
ballet impresario and founder of the
Ballets Russes from which many famous dancers and
choreographers would later arise.
Sergei Diaghilev was born to a wealthy family in
Perm,
Russia toward the end of its
age of empire. Sent to the capital to study law at
St. Petersburg University, he ended up also taking classes at the
St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music where he studied singing and music (a love of which he had picked up from his stepmother). Upon graduating in
1892 he abandoned his dreams of composition (his professor,
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, had notoriously thrown Diaghilev's works in the trash), when he came into an influential circle of artists later referred to as the
Pickwickians:
Alexander Benois,
Walter Nouvel,
Constantine Somov,
Dmitry Filosofov and
Léon Bakst. Although not instantly received into the group, Benois aided Diaghilev by developing his knowledge of Russian and
Western Art. In two years time, he had voraciously absorbed this new obsession (even travelling abroad to further his studies) and came to be respected as one of the most learned of the group. At this time, he also began an affair with Dmitry Filosofov.
With financial backing from
Sawa Mamontov (the director of the
Bolshoi) and Princess
Maria Tenisheva, the group founded the journal
Mir Iskutstva (World of Art) in
1898. The journal introduced current trends in Western art and spotlighted Russian artists who, in the eyes of the group, demonstrated extraordinary creativity and originality.
Mir Iskutstva lasted for six years and made a noticeable impact on the development of Russian art, as well as Russian consciousness.
In
1899, Diaghilev became special assistant to
Prince Serge Wolkonsky, who had recently taken over directorship of all Imperial theaters. Diaghilev was soon responsible for the production of the
Annual of the Imperial Theaters in
1900, and promptly offered assignments to his close friends: Léon Bakst would design costumes for the
French play Le Coeur de la Marquise, while Benois was given the opportunity to produce
Sergei Taneyev's
opera Cupid's Revenge.
Having taken a recent interest in the world of Ballet, Diaghilev pushed for a revival of
Léo Delibes' ballet
Sylvia, a favorite of Benois'. The two collaborators concocted an elaborate production plan that startled the established personnel of the Imperial Theaters. After several increasingly antagonistic differences of opinion, Diaghilev was asked to resign in
1901 and left disgraced in the eyes of the nobility.
Diaghilev's friends stayed true, following him and helping to put on exhibitions. In 1905 he mounted an exhibition of Russian portrait painting in St Petersburg and in the following year took a major exhibition of Russian art to the Petit Palais in Paris. It was the beginning of a long involvement with France. In 1907 he presented five concerts of Russian music in Paris, and in 1908 mounted a production of
Boris Godunov, starring
Fyodor Chaliapin, at the Paris Opera.
This led to an invitation to return the following year with ballet as well as opera, and thus to the launching of his famous
Ballets Russes. The company included the best young Russian dancers, among them
Anna Pavlova and
Vaslav Nijinsky, and their first night on
19 May 1909 was a sensation.
During these years Diaghilev's stagings included several compositions by the late Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, such as the operas
Maid of Pskov,
May Night, and
The Golden Cockerel. His balletic adaptation of the orchestral suite
Schéhérazade, staged in
1910, drew the ire of the composer's widow, Nadezhda Rimskaya-Korsakova, who protested in open letters to Diaghilev published in the periodical
Reč'.Diaghilev commissioned ballet music from composers such as
Claude Debussy (
Jeux, 1913),
Maurice Ravel (
Daphnis et Chloé, 1912),
Erik Satie (
Parade, 1917),
Richard Strauss (
Josephs-Legende, 1914),
Sergei Prokofiev (
Ala and Lolly, rejected by Diaghilev and turned into the
Scythian Suite, and
Chout, 1915),
Ottorino Respighi (
La Boutique Fantasque, 1918),
Francis Poulenc (
Les Biches, 1923) and others. His
choreographer Mikhail Fokine often adapted the music for ballet. Dhiagilev also worked with dancer and ballet master
Leonid Myasin (aka Massine).
The artistic director for the Ballets Russes was
Léon Bakst. Together they developed a more complicated form of ballet with show-elements intended to appeal to the general public, rather than solely the aristocracy. The exotic appeal of the Ballets Russes had an effect on
Fauvist painters and the nascent
Art Deco style.
Perhaps Diaghilev's most notable composer collaborator, however, was
Igor Stravinsky. Diaghilev heard Stravinsky's early orchestral works
Fireworks and
Scherzo Fantastique, and was impressed enough to ask Stravinsky to arrange some pieces by
Frédéric Chopin for the Ballets Russes. In 1910, he commissioned his first score from Stravinsky,
The Firebird.
Petrushka (1911) and
The Rite of Spring (1913) followed shortly afterwards, and the two also worked together on
Pulcinella (1920) and
Les Noces (1923).
Diaghilev staged "
The Sleeping Beauty" of
Tchaikovsky in
London in
1921; despite being well received by the public it was not a financial success. The first cast included the legendary ballerina
Olga Spessivtseva. Diaghilev insisted on calling the ballet
The Sleeping Princess. When asked why, he quipped, "Because I have no beauties!" The later years of the Ballets Russes were often considered too "intellectual", too "stylish" and seldom had the unconditional success of the first few seasons, although younger choreographers like
George Balanchine hit their stride with the Ballet Russes.
The end of the
19th century brought a development in the handling of tonality, harmony, rhythm and meter towards more freedom. Until that time, rigid harmonic schemes had forced rhythmic patterns to stay fairly uncomplicated. Around the turn of the century, however, harmonic and metric devices became either more rigid, or much more unpredictable, and each approach had a liberating effect on rhythm, which also affected ballet. Diaghilev was a pioneer in adapting these new musical styles to modern ballet. When Ravel used a 5/4 time in the final part of his ballet
Daphnis and Chloé (1912), dancers of the
Ballets Russes sang
Ser-ge-dia-ghi-lev during rehearsals to keep the correct rhythm.
Members of Diaghilev's
Ballets Russes later went on to found ballet traditions in the United States (
George Balanchine) and England (Ninette de Valois and
Marie Rambert). Ballet master
Serge Lifar went on to revive the Paris Opera.
|
Sergej Diaghilev's gravestone June 2005 in San Michele cemetery (orthodox section) in Venice. |
Diaghilev engaged in a number of
homosexual relationships over the course of his life. At least one of these, with
Boris Kochno, his secretary from 1921 until the end of his life, was initially of a
pederastic nature. Other lovers included his cousin, Dima Filasofov, and four dancers in his ballet company, Vaslav Nijinsky, Leonide Massine,
Anton Dolin, and
Serge Lifar.
Diaghilev was known as a hard, demanding, even frightening taskmaster.
Ninette de Valois, no shrinking violet, said she was too afraid to ever look at him in the face.
George Balanchine said he carried around a cane during rehearsals, and banged it angrily when he was displeased. Other dancers said he would shoot them down with one look, or a cold comment.
Yet he was loyal to his dancers, even Vaslav Nijinsky, who was his lover. He fired Nijinsky after Nijinsky married in 1913, but also rescued Nijinsky from war-torn Eastern Europe during the first World War, which was a difficult task. He also visited Nijinsky in 1928, when Nijinsky was already deeply mentally disturbed. Dancers such as
Alicia Markova,
Tamara Karsavina, Serge Lifar, and
Lydia Sokolova remembered him fondly, as a stern but kind father-figure who put the needs of his dancers and company above his own. As Lifar said, he died with two coats, and practically no money in his bank account. He lived from paycheck to paycheck to finance his company. Markova was very young when she joined the Ballet Russes and she would later in life say that she called Diaghilev "Sergypops" and he would take care of her like a daughter. The movie
The Red Shoes is a thinly disguised dramatization of the Ballet Russes.
He died in
Venice, Italy, on
August 19,
1929, and is buried on the nearby island of
San Michele.
*
Historical pederastic couples*
Who was Diaghilev?*
Sergei Diaghilev in
Early Twentieth Century Russian Drama at the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Northwestern University*
Sergei Diaghilev at
Andros on Ballet*
sergei pavlovich diaghilev at
danceworks*
Sergei Diaghilev at the
Diaghilev Festival website*
Diaghilev, Sergei Pavlovich at
Infoplease Encyclopedia
