Sergei Diaghilev. Frank biography of the great entrepreneur

The Russian seasons of Sergei Diaghilev and especially his ballet enterprise not only glorified Russian art abroad, but also had a great influence on world culture. Kultura.RF recalls the life and career of an outstanding entrepreneur.

The cult of pure art

Valentin Serov. Portrait of Sergei Diaghilev (detail). 1904. State Russian Museum

Reviews of art critics turned out to be more than favorable, and for the majority of Parisians, Russian painting was a real discovery. The author of the biography of the impresario, the writer Natalia Chernyshova-Melnik, in the book "Diaghilev" quotes the reviews of the Paris press: “But could we have suspected the existence of a stately poet - the unfortunate Vrubel? .. Here Korovin, Petrovichev, Roerich, Yuon - landscape painters seeking thrills and expressing them with rare harmony Serov and Kustodiev - deep and significant portrait painters; here Anisfeld and Rylov - landscape painters are very valuable ... "

Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Diaghilev, Leon Bakst and Coco Chanel. Switzerland. 1915. Photo: persons-info.com

"Russian Seasons" in Seville. 1916. Photo: diletant.media

Behind the scenes of the Russian Ballets. 1916. Photo: diletant.media

Diaghilev's first European success only roused him, and he took up music. In 1907 he organized a series of five "Historical Russian Concerts", which took place on the stage of the Parisian Grand Opera. Diaghilev carefully approached the selection of the repertoire: works by Mikhail Glinka, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest Mussorgsky, Alexander Borodin, Alexander Scriabin sounded from the stage. As in the case of the 1906 exhibition, Diaghilev approached the accompanying materials responsibly: printed concert programs told short biographies of Russian composers. The concerts were as successful as the first Russian exhibition, and it was the performance with the part of Prince Igor in the Historical Russian Concerts that made Fyodor Chaliapin famous. Among the composers, the Parisian public received Mussorgsky especially warmly, for whom a great fashion went from that time in France.

Making sure that Russian music aroused a keen interest among Europeans, Diaghilev chose the opera Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky for the third Russian season of 1908. Preparing for the production, the impresario personally studied the author's clavier, noting that in the production of the opera edited by Rimsky-Korsakov, two scenes were removed that were important, he considered, for general drama. In Paris, Diaghilev presented a new version of the opera, which has been used by many contemporary directors ever since. Diaghilev was not at all shy about adapting the source material, adjusting to the audience, whose spectator habits he knew very well. Therefore, for example, in his "Godunov" the scene of the death of Boris became the final - to enhance the dramatic effect. The same applied to the timing of the performances: Diaghilev believed that they should not last longer than three and a half hours, and he calculated the change of scenery and the order of mise-en-scenes down to seconds. The success of the Parisian version of Boris Godunov only confirmed Diaghilev's authority as a director.

Diaghilev's Russian ballet

Pablo Picasso is working on the design for Sergei Diaghilev's ballet Parade. 1917. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Workshop Covent Garden. Sergei Diaghilev, Vladimir Polunin and Pablo Picasso, the author of the sketches for the ballet "Tricorne". London. 1919. Photo: stil-gizni.com

At the plane, Lyudmila Shollar, Alicia Nikitina, Serge Lifar, Walter Nouvel, Sergei Grigoriev, Lyubov Chernysheva, Olga Khokhlova, Alexandrina Trusevich, Paulo and Pablo Picasso. 1920s. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

The idea to bring the ballet abroad came from the impresario in 1907. Then at the Mariinsky Theater he saw Mikhail Fokin's production of The Armida Pavilion, a ballet to music by Nikolai Cherepnin with sets by Alexander Benois. At that time, among young dancers and choreographers, there was a certain opposition to the classical traditions, which, as Diaghilev said, “jealously guarded” by Marius Petipa. “Then I thought about new short ballets, - wrote Diaghilev later in his memoirs, - Which would be self-sufficient phenomena of art and in which the three factors of ballet - music, drawing and choreography - would be merged much closer than has been observed so far ”... With these thoughts in mind, he set about preparing the fourth Russian season, the tour of which was planned for 1909.

At the end of 1908, the impresario signed contracts with leading ballet dancers from St. Petersburg and Moscow: Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Mikhail Fokin, Vaclav Nijinsky, Ida Rubinstein, Vera Karalli and others. In addition to ballet, opera performances appeared in the program of the fourth Russian season: Diaghilev invited Fyodor Chaliapin, Lydia Lipkovskaya, Elizaveta Petrenko and Dmitry Smirnov to perform. With the financial support of his friend, the famous socialite Miss Sert, Diaghilev rented the old Parisian theater "Chatelet". The interior of the theater was specially redesigned for the premiere of Russian performances in order to increase the area of ​​the stage.

Diaghilev's troupe arrived in Paris at the end of April 1909. The repertoire of the new Season included the ballets "Pavilion of the Armida", "Cleopatra" and "Sylphides", as well as "Polovtsian Dances" from the opera "Prince Igor" by Alexander Borodin. The rehearsals were held in a tense atmosphere: under the clatter of hammers and squealing drank during the reconstruction of the "Chatelet". Mikhail Fokin, the main choreographer of the productions, made scandals about this more than once. The premiere of the fourth Russian season took place on May 19, 1909. Most of the audience and critics did not appreciate the innovative choreography of the ballets, but everyone was delighted with the sets and costumes of Lev Bakst, Alexander Benois and Nicholas Roerich, as well as the dancers, especially Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina.

After that, Diaghilev concentrated entirely on the ballet enterprise and significantly updated his repertoire, including Scheherazade to the music of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and the Firebird ballet based on Russian folk tales. The entrepreneur asked Anatoly Lyadov to write the music for the latter, but he failed - and the order passed to the young composer Igor Stravinsky. From that moment on, his long-term fruitful cooperation with Diaghilev began.

Russian ballet in Cologne during Sergei Diaghilev's European tours. 1924. Photo: diletant.media

Jean Cocteau and Sergei Diaghilev in Paris at the premiere of the Blue Express. 1924. Photo: diletant.media

The past success of the ballets allowed the impresario to present the performances of the new season at the Grand Opera; the premiere of the fifth Russian seasons took place in May 1910. Lev Bakst, who traditionally participated in the creation of costumes and sets, recalled: "The crazy success of" Scheherazade "(the whole of Paris was dressed like an oriental!)".

The Firebird premiered on 25 June. The crowded hall of the Grand Opera gathered the artistic elite of Paris, including Marcel Proust (Russian seasons are mentioned more than once in the pages of his seven-volume epic "In Search of Lost Time"). The originality of Diaghilev's vision was manifested in the famous episode with live horses, which were supposed to appear on the stage during the performance. Igor Stravinsky recalled this incident: “... The poor animals came out, as was supposed, in turn, but began to laugh and dance, and one of them showed herself more of a critic than an actor, leaving a foul-smelling business card ... But this episode was then forgotten in the heat of general applause at the new ballet "... Mikhail Fokin combined pantomime, grotesque and classical dance in the production. All this was in harmony with the scenery of Alexander Golovin and the music of Stravinsky. The "Firebird", as the Parisian critic Henri Geon noted, was "By the miracle of a delightful balance between movement, sound and form ..."

In 1911, Sergei Diaghilev secured the permanent venue for his Ballets Russes (Russian Ballet) - in Monte Carlo. In April of that year, at the Teatro Monte Carlo, the new Russian seasons opened with the premiere of the ballet The Phantom of the Rose staged by Mikhail Fokine. In it, the audience was amazed by the jumps of Vaslav Nijinsky. Later in Paris, Diaghilev presented "Petrushka" to the music of Stravinsky, which became the main hit of this season.

The following Russian seasons, in 1912-1917, including because of the war in Europe, were not very successful for Diaghilev. Among the most offensive failures was the premiere of the innovative ballet to music by Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, which the public did not accept. The audience did not appreciate the "barbaric dances" to the unusual pagan stormy music. At the same time, Diaghilev parted with Nijinsky and Fokin and invited the young dancer and choreographer Leonid Massin to the troupe.

Pablo Picasso. Later, the artists Juan Miro and Max Ernst made the scenery for the ballet Romeo and Juliet.

The years 1918-1919 were marked by successful tours in London - the troupe spent a whole year there. In the early 1920s, Diaghilev had new dancers invited by Bronislava Nijinsky Serge Lifar and George Balanchine. Subsequently, after the death of Diaghilev, they both became the founders of national ballet schools: Balanchine - American, and Lifar - French.

Beginning in 1927, Diaghilev was less and less satisfied with ballet work; moreover, he was carried away by books and became an avid collector. The last resounding success of the Diaghilev troupe was Leonid Massine's 1928 production of Apollo Musaget with music by Igor Stravinsky and costumes by Coco Chanel.

The Russian Ballet worked successfully until the death of Diaghilev in 1929. In his memoirs, Igor Stravinsky, speaking about new trends in the ballet of the twentieth century, noted: “… Would these tendencies have arisen without Diaghilev? I do not think".

As you know, the beginning of the 20th century was the time of the triumph of Russian ballet all over the world, and Sergey Diaghilev's merit is invaluable in this. His personal life has repeatedly become the subject of heated discussions in society. However, this man, who elevated the entrepreneurial profession to the rank of art, was forgiven for what many others would have been made outcasts for.

Brief biography of Sergei Diaghilev: childhood and adolescence

The future organizer of "Russian Seasons" was born on March 19, 1872 in the village of Selishchi, Novgorod province, into a noble family. The boy did not remember his mother, since she died shortly after his birth. The upbringing of little Sergei was taken up by his stepmother, who was an educated and intelligent woman.

The boy's father was a military man, and the Diaghilevs' family was forced to move frequently from place to place on business of his service. After graduating from a gymnasium in Perm in 1890, Sergei Diaghilev went to St. Petersburg and entered the Faculty of Law. In parallel, he studied music with N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov.

1896 to 1899

In 1896, Sergei Diaghilev graduated from university, but he did not work out as a lawyer. Nevertheless, he soon became known in St. Petersburg as one of the founders of the first art magazine in Russia "The World of Art", which united around himself Vrubel, Serov, Levitan and others. Over time, Sergei Diaghilev and his closest like-minded friends D. Filosofov and A. N. Benois organize several exhibitions. In particular, demonstrations of works by German watercolors (in 1897), paintings by Scandinavian artists, paintings by Russian and Finnish painters in the Stieglitz Museum (in 1898) and others are held with great success.

In public service

In 1899, the director of the Imperial Theaters, S. Volkonsky, appointed Sergei Diaghilev to the position of an official on special assignments. In addition, he was entrusted with the editing of the annual publication dedicated to the activities of this department. Diaghilev turns the magazine into a high-quality art publication, and attracts A. Vasnetsov, A. Benois, A. Serov, K. Korovin and others to work in the Imperial Theaters. However, cooperation with Volkonsky ends rather quickly, as Sergei Diaghilev has disagreements with his superiors in the process of preparing the ballet "Sylvia". In addition, he has a painful break with Dmitry Filosofov, the cause of which is Zinaida Gippius. As a result, Diaghilev decided to terminate the existence of the "World of Art" and in 1904 left St. Petersburg.

"Russian seasons"

Sergei Diaghilev's active character and connections in the art world allowed him in 1908 to organize in Paris a show of Russian operas Boris Godunov by M. Mussorgsky, Ruslan and Lyudmila by M. Glinka, and others, which were a huge success.

A year later, 1909, the first "Russian Seasons" took place in Paris, which became a bright event in the cultural life of all of Europe. Sergei Diaghilev's ballets were also seen in London, Rome and even in the United States. The ballet "Seasons" ended shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, after which the great entrepreneur decided to leave his homeland forever.

"Russian ballet"

Having settled in New York, where memories of performances with the participation of Vaslav Nijinsky and other famous dancers and ballerinas were still fresh, Sergei Diaghilev organized a permanent troupe. It became known as the Russian Ballet and existed until 1929. During this period, Diaghilev was experiencing a difficult break with Vaslav Nijinsky, who was the subject of his homosexual passion for many years. Unable to forgive his beloved for a secret wedding with the Romanian ballerina Romola Pulskaya, he again became close to the latter and created for him his best ballets, which have become classics of dance art.

last years of life

Sergei Diaghilev (see photo above) has always been extremely frivolous about his health. Back in 1921, he was diagnosed with diabetes. At the same time, Diaghilev practically did not follow the instructions of the doctors and did not spare himself, going on exhausting trips. Since 1927, he developed severe furunculosis. Some researchers believe that this was one of the manifestations of AIDS that Diaghilev may have suffered from. In those years, antibiotics did not yet exist, so the presence of numerous foci of purulent infection meant a direct threat to life. Diaghilev later ignored the doctors' orders and went on a tour with his troupe, including visits to Berlin, Cologne, Paris and London. In the British capital, doctors advised him to undergo a course of treatment with thermal waters, but instead, the great entrepreneur visited Baden-Baden to discuss the new ballet with Hindemith, and from there went to Munich and Salzburg to listen to the operas of Mozart and Wagner. Feeling worse, he decided to spend some time in Venice.

Death

Sergei Diaghilev, whose biography is inextricably linked with during the first quarter of the 20th century, arrived in Venice on August 8, 1929. Doctors stated that due to abscesses, he had blood poisoning. After 4 days, he fell ill, but continued to make plans for the future. On August 18, Diaghilev received Holy Communion and died the next morning without regaining consciousness.

After the funeral service, his body was transferred to the island of San Michele, and he was buried in the Orthodox part of the cemetery.

Personal life of Sergei Diaghilev

As already mentioned, the famous entrepreneur from early youth showed homosexual inclinations. His first love was his cousin Dmitry Filosofov, with whom he founded the "World of Art" and, as they would say today, took up the promotion of Russian art. Later there were rumors that the reason for his dismissal from the Imperial Theaters was his connection with Vaslav Nijinsky, which he did not even think to hide. The next who won the heart of Diaghilev was a young dancer who allowed himself to be loved in the name of a career, in which he succeeded. However, his marriage to Vera Savina put an end to the relationship between the ballet star and his patron. After Diaghilev repeatedly brought young people closer to him, whom he helped in every way to make a successful career. In particular, in this way Sergei Lifar achieved fame, and at the same time it was said about the first of them that he was devoid of homosexual inclinations, and the master's love remained platonic. Be that as it may, as a result of these hobbies, several famous ballets were born to the music of Stravinsky, Balanchine and Rouault.

Now you know who Sergei Diaghilev was. The biography, personal life and novels of this famous Russian entrepreneur have often become the subject of discussion and condemnation. However, no one can deny his enormous role in the development of domestic and world ballet art.

Sergei Diaghilev is a famous theatrical figure.

Childhood

The great power of art lies precisely in the fact that it is an end in itself, self-beneficial and, most importantly, free<...>a work of art is important not in itself, but only as an expression of the personality of the creator.

Diaghilev Sergey Pavlovich

Sergei Diaghilev was born in the small village of Selishchi, in the Novgorod province. His father was a hereditary nobleman and officer. Evenings were often held in their house, during which the father and stepmother sang songs, and Sergey accompanied them. Their house became the real center of Perm cultural life. It was during this period that the future entrepreneur developed a love for art, which will accompany him throughout his life.

Participation in artistic life

At the age of 18, in 1890, he moved to St. Petersburg and began studying at the conservatory, where Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov became his leader, and also began to study law at the university. But neither one nor the other could truly captivate the young man. Already at this time he was able to show his outstanding organizational skills. He organized several art exhibitions by contemporary artists in order to show the public the art of the late 19th century. As a result, Sergei Diaghilev became the object of jokes on the part of some feuilletonists, as well as negative reviews from conservative critics.

Despite the criticism, the young man's authority began to grow rapidly. Already in 1898, the first issue of the World of Art magazine was published. This became possible thanks to the help of benefactors Savva Mamontov and Maria Tenischeva. The slogan of editors Sergei Diaghilev and Alexander Benois was "Art, pure and free", the same motto was guided by the association of the same name, whose members were prominent artists of that time. The literary section of the journal published the works of the greatest figures in literature and journalism at the end of the nineteenth century. This magazine has become a real home for the Symbolists and has become an important educational project.

Promotional activities

The popularization of Russian art became an important goal of Diaghilev's activities. He tried to include it in the pan-European process. Sergei Diaghilev made an important attempt to break down the wall of ignorance, since the Europeans of that time knew little about Russian art, possessing very vague ideas about cultural life in Russia.

DYAGILEV Sergey Pavlovich, Russian theater and art figure, critic. Until 1890 he lived mainly in Perm, then in St. Petersburg, where he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University (1896), was a volunteer at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the composition class of N. A. Sokolov and the class of solo singing A. Cotonya. Having become close to a circle of St. Petersburg artists and art critics (his cousin D. V. Filosofov, A. N. Benois, L. S. Bakst, K. A. Somov, etc.), he became interested in the history of art, especially painting and theater. Since 1890 he traveled throughout Europe several times. In 1899-1901 he was an official of special assignments in the Directorate of the Imperial Theaters in St. Petersburg (collaborated with Prince S. M. Volkonsky), in 1898-1901 he was the editor of the "Yearbook of the Imperial Theaters". As a result of a conflict with the Directorate (Diaghilev considered it necessary to reform opera and ballet performances, focusing on the performances of the Moscow Art Theater), he was dismissed without the right to enter public service.

Diaghilev was one of the founders of the World of Art association (1898) and the magazine of the same name (also editor and publisher, 1898-1904). He was the initiator and organizer of a number of St. Petersburg exhibitions of Russian and foreign art, based on a strict conceptual selection of exhibits and a high artistic level of the exposition: Scandinavian artists, German and English watercolorists (both 1897), Russian and Finnish artists (1898), the Mir art "(1900-03, 1906); the grandiose Historical and Art Exhibition of Russian portraits in the Tauride Palace (1905), the exhibits of which Diaghilev selected from many estates and private collections in Russia, presented a unique panorama of Russian portraits from the 18th - early 20th centuries.

Since 1906, all of Diaghilev's activities were aimed at promoting Russian art abroad, mainly in Western Europe. On his initiative, a Russian art exhibition was organized as part of the Autumn Salon in Paris (1906), where for the first time the European audience was shown ancient Russian icons, the work of Russian artists from the 18th to the early 20th centuries (V.A. Serov, M.A. etc.). In 1907, Diaghilev organized Historical Russian Concerts in Paris, in which music was performed from M.I. Glinka to A.N. Scriabin. The success of these concerts, the participation in them of the greatest musicians of their time (conductors F.M.Blumenfeld, A.K. Glazunov, A. Nikish, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, pianist I. Hoffman, pianist and conductor S. V. Rachmaninov , singers F.I. Shalyapin, F.V. Litvin, E.I. Zbrueva, and others) prompted Diaghilev to organize Russian seasons abroad in 1908, which became a triumph of Russian musical and theatrical art. Their programs featured new Russian ballets (choreographed by MM Fokin) and a number of Russian operas.

In 1911-29 Diaghilev was the artistic director of the Diaghilev Russian Ballet troupe. Thanks to his organizational talent, unmistakable artistic taste, heightened sense of novelty in art, Diaghilev was able to attract many outstanding artists to work in his enterprise (A.P. Pavlova, V.F.Nijinsky, T.P. Karsavin, O.A. others), composers (I.F.Stravinsky, S.S.Prokofiev, K. Debussy, M. Ravel, E. B. G. Romanov, L. F. Massine, S. Lifar, J. Balanchine), conductors (E. A. Cooper, G. Piernet, P. Monteux, E. Ansermet, R. Desormier). Artists from the World of Art, as well as N. S. Goncharova, M. F. Larionov, P. Picasso, A. Matisse, J. Rouault, J. Braque and others took part in the design of the performances (a number of major masters first turned to scenography influenced by Diaghilev). Diaghilev's personal authority helped to attract funds from many patrons of art - both in Russia (Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, Princess M.K. Tenisheva, etc.) and in Europe. The performances of Diaghilev's entreprise, which were based on the synthesis of contemporary music, choreography and decorative art, largely contributed to the establishment of avant-garde art in the field of music, choreography and scenography, had a great impact on the art of the 20th century; they affirmed the prestige of Russian ballet and at the same time contributed to the revival of ballet art throughout the world.

In 1896-1906 he acted as an art critic (over 100 publications); author of a monograph about D.G. Levitsky (1902). In the last years of his life, Diaghilev turned to collecting books (about 2 thousand rare Russian editions) and autographs (including G.R.Derzhavin, V.A.Zhukovsky, A.S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov), ​​intending to create in Russia, a book depository with a handwritten section. In 1966, a square in Paris (adjacent to the Paris Opera) was named after him. In 1990, the S. Diaghilev Center for International Art was opened in St. Petersburg (Leningrad). The Diaghilev House charitable foundation and the memorial museum (1990) have been opened in Perm, the international seminar “Diaghilev Readings” (since 1987) and the international music and theater festival “Diaghilev Seasons” (since 2003) have been held.

Lit .: Beaumont C. W. The Diaghilev Ballet in London. L.,; Sokolova L. Dancing for Diaghilev. L., 1960; Kochno B. Diaghilev and the ballets Russes. N. Y. 1970; Krasovskaya V. M. Russian ballet theater of the early XX century. L., 1971-1972. T. 1-2; she is. Nijinsky. L., 1974; Lieven, P., The birth of Ballets-russes. 3rd ed. L., 1973; Haskell A. Diaghileff. N. Y. 1977; Buckle R. Diaghilev. L., 1979; Percival J. The world of Diaghilev. L., 1979; Fokin M.M. Memories of a choreographer. 2nd ed. L., 1981; S. Diaghilev and Russian art / Comp. I. Zilberstein, V. Samkov. M., 1982. T. 1-2; Garafola L. Diaghilev's ballets Russes. Oxf .; N. Y. 1989; Benois A. N. My memoirs. 2nd ed. M., 1990. T. 1-2; Grigoriev S. Diaghilev's ballet. 1909-1929. M., 1993; Lifar S. M. Diaghilev and Diaghilev. M., 1994; Laskin A.S. The Unknown Diaghilevs, or the End of the Quote. SPb., 1994; Diaghilev and his era: Album / Ed. text V. Lenyashin. SPb., 2001; Stravinsky I. F. Chronicle of my life. M., 2005.

V. A. Kulakov, O. V. Frayonova.

Russian art and theatrical figure, entrepreneur, organizer of "Russian Seasons" and the troupe "Russian Ballet of Diaghilev" in Paris.

S.P. Diaghilev was born on March 19, 1872 in Perm in the Novgorod province into a noble family. His father was a major general in the tsarist army, was fond of singing. In childhood, at the insistence of his adoptive mother (his own mother died in childbirth), Diaghilev learned to play the piano.

In 1890 the Diaghilevs moved to St. Petersburg. Sergei entered the St. Petersburg University at the Faculty of Law. During his studies, he became friends with A. Benois and L. Bakst, with whom he organized a small art history circle. Simultaneously with his studies at the university, he was a volunteer in the singing class of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and took composition lessons.

In 1896 Diaghilev graduated from the university with a law degree.

After the crushing failure of his first production, Diaghilev abandoned his career as a composer, but decided to devote himself to art in a different capacity. In 1899, Diaghilev, together with A. Benois, founded the elite magazine "World of Art" and became its editor, and at the same time entered the service of an official on special assignments in the Directorate of the Imperial Theaters (until 1901). A major exhibition of Russian art, which he organized in 1905 in St. Petersburg, further strengthened his reputation as a connoisseur and connoisseur of the avant-garde.

In 1906 Diaghilev left for France. There he organized annual performances of Russian artists abroad, which contributed to the popularization of Russian art, which later went down in history under the name "Russian Seasons." First, these were exhibitions of Russian art, then "Historical Russian Concerts" in the premises of the Parisian theater "Grand Opera" and performances with music by Russian composers. Mussorgsky's opera Khovanshchina and Boris Godunov with F. Chaliapin as Tsar Boris became a real sensation. Russian Seasons existed in Paris and London until 1914.

In 1909, Grand Duke Vladimir commissioned Diaghilev to found the Russian Ballet in Paris. Diaghilev gathered a creative team of the greatest art workers of the early XX century, and in 1911-13. on the basis of Russian Seasons, he created the troupe “Russian Ballet of Diaghilev”, in which the choreographers M. Fokin and L. Massine worked; composers K. Debussy, M. Ravel and I. Stravinsky; artists L. Bakst, A. Benois, P. Picasso, A. Matisse; dancers of the Russian Ballet from the Mariinsky and Bolshoi Theaters A. Pavlova, V. Nijinsky, M. Kshesinskaya, T. Karsavina.

I. Stravinsky recalled Diaghilev: “He determined the theme, chose composers, artists, choreographers, leading actors. He directed the rehearsals. Each production with its originality reflected his personal complicity. "

Best of the day

"Russian Ballet" has toured Europe, the United States and South America, achieving increasing success.

In the last years of his life, despite the invariable success of the productions, Diaghilev began to feel burdened with ballet, but he felt responsible to the people with whom he worked, and could not give up this business.

In 1929, while on vacation in Venice, Diaghilev suffered a stroke, which was replaced by a coma, and on August 19 of the same year, the great impresario passed away.

The Italian composer Casella testified in his memoirs: “He died alone, in a hotel room, poor, as he always was. He lived here on credit, unable to pay for the hotel. " After his death, there were no savings left and he was buried at the expense of wealthy French patrons of art. At his grave, which is located next to the grave of I. Stravinsky on the island-cemetery of Saint-Michel, admirers still gather who leave there red roses and worn-out ballet shoes, paying tribute to the memory of this man, whose ideas played such an important role in creating modern dance.