He was the founder of Russian seasons in Paris. Diaghilev's Russian seasons are more than art. “Russian Seasons” by Sergei Diaghilev. Music

Let's figure out what the famous “Russian ballet” is. After all, if for the domestic consciousness this is “Swan Lake” in the enthusiastic perception of foreigners, then for the rest of the world it is not at all. For the rest of the world, “Swan” is “Bolshoi” or “Kirov” (that’s what the Mariinsky Theater is still called there), and the phrase “Russian ballet” does not speak of the reproduction of an unshakable classic, but of a spectacular departure from the boundaries of classical culture in the first third of the twentieth century . Russian ballet is an artistic space where on one pole there is oriental, pagan or exoticism associated with European antiquity, and on the other there is the sharpest, most radical ultra-modern experiment. In other words, “Russian ballet”, as these words are understood in the world, is not an eternal ballerina in a tutu, but something sharp, unpredictable, demonstratively changing forms and dangerously provocative. And neo-booz-daily alive.

Russian ballet owes this not entirely familiar image to us, of course, to the enterprise of Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev, to which the name “Russian Seasons” was assigned. Or “Russian Ballets”, “Ballets russes”, as it was written on their posters.

The programs of Diaghilev's enterprise swept away the boundaries between the cultures of the East and West. The world-artistic 18th century “Armida Pavilion” and Chopin’s romanticism “La Sylphide” (as Diaghilev called the ballet, which in Russia is known as “”) coexisted with the wild “Polovtsian Dances”, Schumann’s “Carnival” - with “”, and all together turned out to be an unexpected interweaving of Europe and the East. Ancient Europe and a somewhat fantastic, universal East, organically including the Polovtsians, and the Firebird, and “Scheherazade,” and the tragic Mario-not-toks, and Cleopatra, to whom the dance of the seven Bakst veils was given (in the ballet - twelve) from the play about Salome, which was banned in St. Petersburg by the censors of the Holy Synod.

The “team” of the Russian Seasons was brilliant, and everything they did was in perfect harmony with the spirit of the times. The ballets of the first season of 1909 were staged by Mikhail Fokine, designed by Leon Bakst, Alexander Benois or Nicholas Roerich, and performed by the legendary Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Vaslav Nijinsky, as well as Ida Rubinstein, who was listed in the program as the “first mime artist” of the troupe, and In fact, she was the first “diva” of ballet. “The enchantress who brings death with her”—that’s what Bakst called her. “She’s just a revived archaic bas-relief,” marveled Valentin Serov, who painted her famous portrait in Paris. His admiring words are also known that there is “so much spontaneous, genuine East” in it.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Russia perceived itself as a purely European country. However, her image, introduced by Diaghilev into the consciousness of Europeans, turned out to be paradoxically non-European. With the light hand of the great entrepreneur, all these hypnotic orientals, colorful Slavic antiquities, the mysticism of the farce and the theater of masks, everything that so excited Russian artists, became for the West the face of Russia itself. It is unlikely that Diaghilev set himself such a task. His goal was to promote—here this modern term is quite appropriate—the latest Russian art. But in the minds of Western spectators, the specific aesthetics of these first, pre-war Russian seasons were firmly connected with the image of Russian ballet and modeled ideas about the country.

Diaghilev's enterprise, which emerged in the late 1900s, was an integral part of that sophisticated era, which later became known as the “Silver Age”. It was the Silver Age, with its Art Nouveau style and “” understanding of beauty, that belonged to the new Russian art with which Diaghilev blew up Paris. But the paradox is that, in turn, the Silver Age was also only part of Diaghilev’s enterprise. Both as an enterprise and as an artistic phenomenon, the Russian Ballets turned out to be broader, more dynamic, and more durable than this fragile phenomenon of Russian pre-war culture. The war and the Russian Revolution put an end to the Silver Age. And the history of the Russian Ballets was only divided into two parts: pre-war and post-war, and this happened not so much for external, political reasons, but for internal - artistic ones.

Diaghilev's enterprise began 5 years before the war, which was then called the Great, and ended - with the death of Diaghilev - 10 years before another war, after which the former Great was no longer called. Instead of the Great World War, it became simply the First World War, because the Second World War was even worse. And in this change of the previous pathetic name to a new prosaic one, a unique one - to a serial number (which implies an open row), this involuntary change of name contains a projection of those terrible changes that were then happening to the world and humanity.

In this world and in this young, still arrogant 20th century, which thoughtlessly and quickly moved first to one, then to a second war, it was in it that the phenomenon of Diaghilev’s enterprise blossomed, the main property of which was the ability to breathe in unison with the century, sensitively responding to every request of time, to the slightest breath of change. In this sense, the history of Diaghilev's enterprise was a direct projection of the era. Or her portrait, metaphorical, but also documentary-accurate, like a cast. Or, if you like, an ideal summary of it.

As for the question of the influence of the Russian Ballets on world culture, this question is by no means abstract. Firstly, contrary to the popular belief that the Russian Seasons are Paris, only the very first year, 1909, was purely Parisian. Then each season turned into an extensive international tour. Russian ballets have been seen live in twenty cities in eleven European countries, as well as in both Americas. In addition, Russian ballet, in that era and in that enterprise, truly became part of world culture, and one of its most important parts, its vanguard. And, although the very image of the vanguard in relation to new concepts of art, and in general this word itself as a term (“advanced detachment” in French is translated as avant-garde), arose somewhat later and are connected for us with another layer of art, Diaghilev’s enterprise was essentially always precisely the vanguard.

Let's start with the fact that from the very beginning, advanced ideas in the field of music were born and tested here, new, complex works were published. Suffice it to say that it was here, even before the war, that the world premieres of the first three ballets of Igor Stravinsky, who would soon become one of the most important composers of the 20th century, took place.

Of course, new artistic ideas were born not only under the leadership of Dyagilev. In those same years, in the same Paris, great modernist schools in art arose and existed independently of it: for example, the so-called Paris School of Painting, which united artists living in Paris from different countries. Or the modernist school of composition, from which the group “Six” (“Les six”) emerged - by analogy with the Russian “Five,” as the “Mighty Handful” is called in France. But it was Diaghilev who managed to combine all this at home. Almost merchant's entrepreneurial spirit, bulldog grip, impeccable commercial intuition and equally impeccable artistic intuition allowed him to guess, find, captivate, direct along the most extreme path and instantly make famous the brightest and promising artists.

However, Diaghilev not only engaged and promoted - he began to create artists himself, composing each of them as a project. The term for this - project - also did not exist yet, but Diaghilev used this concept with all his might. And the Russian Ballets themselves were a grandiose project, and each of the artists found and nominated by Diaghilev - every dancer, artist, composer, choreographer - was such a project.

Then, having received from each of them what he considered necessary, Diaghilev mercilessly curtailed cooperation, making way for the next project. Before the war, this process—changes of artists and teams—was slower: among the artists here, Bakst dominated all the years, who was only overshadowed from time to time by Benois, Roerich or Anisfeld, and among the choreographers, Mikhail Fokin reigned supreme. Until, in 1912, Diaghilev suddenly launched the “Nijinsky the Choreographer” project. The author of all those ballets with which Diaghilev immediately conquered Paris, Fokine was deeply offended when, by the will of Diaghilev (or, as he believed, by the dirty arbitrariness of Diaghilev), next to his, Fokine’s, stylish, beautiful, intelligent works, the plastically tongue-tied “Afternoon Rest of a Faun”, staged by the owner’s favorite. Of course, Fokine did not deny Nijinsky’s genius as a dancer, but he considered him pathologically incapable of composing dances.

Fokine was never able to admit that “Faun” was a harbinger of a new era, and that “unnaturalness” and “archaic poses” were not “falsehood,” but new means of expression. But Diaghilev understood this very well.

Fokine's brilliant but short career at the Russian Ballets ended in 1914. And soon the age of Bakst ended - in 1917. Listen to these dates: although it was not the war or the Russian revolution that was the reason for their resignation, the line is clearly marked. It was then that Diaghilev sharply changed course towards modernism.

Miriskusnikov is rapidly being replaced by the scandalous avant-garde artist Goncharova, then by her husband Larionov and, finally, by the artists of the Parisian school. A new, exciting era in the history of Diaghilev’s enterprise is beginning. And if in the first period Diaghilev introduced Europe to Russia, now his tasks are more global. Now Diaghilev is introducing Europe to Europe.

Leading painters of new movements successively became his stage designers: Picasso, Derain, Matisse, Braque, Gris, Miro, Utrillo, Chirico, Rouault. This project can be called “Scandalous painting on stage.” The scenography of the Russian Ballets still competes on an equal footing with the choreography. This project not only enriches Diaghilev’s performances with serious fine art, but gives a new direction to the development of European painting itself, since the theater is included in the circle of interests of the largest modernist artists. This is how Diaghilev begins to shape the paths of world art.

At the same time, one after another, he invites radical French composers - the circle of the same “Six” and the Arceuil school, from Georges Auric to Francis Poulenc, as well as their mentor and leader Erik Satie. Moreover, if the artists engaged by Diaghilev were no longer boys or girls, then among the musicians only Satie was an adult, and the rest belonged to the desperate generation of twenty-five-year-olds. Diaghilev's new choreographers were also young. Diaghilev continued to look for them, unlike artists and composers, among his compatriots.

He had three choreographers in the 1920s. Moreover, for some time all three - Leonide Massine, Bronislava Nijinska, Georges Balanchine - worked for him almost simultaneously, in line. This gave the artistic process an unprecedented intensity, since all three were so different. Not one of them repeated the other, and, moreover, not one of them repeated himself. Repetition was Diaghilev's greatest sin. His textbook phrase is “Surprise me!” - just about this.

The first choreographer he created was Leonid Myasin. Having taken in a boy from the Moscow corps de ballet, Diaghilev began to consistently raise him as a choreographer who was supposed to replace Fokine himself (at first Diaghilev, as we remember, relied on Nijinsky, but he, having created two great and two not-great ballets, fizzled out , became mentally ill and left the race forever). From 1915 to 1921, young Massine was the only choreographer of the Russian seasons; in 1917, it was he who staged the legendary ballet “Parade”, to the music of Erik Satie, according to the concept of Jean Cocteau and in the crazy design of Pablo Picasso. Not only were the sets cubist, but Picasso imprisoned two characters (the so-called Managers) in cubist box costumes that almost completely shackled the dancers. The poet Guillaume Apollinaire, having watched the performance, then called Massine the most daring of the choreographers. And in 1919, it was Massine who created a ballet on a Spanish theme, introduced into Diaghilev’s repertoire by the same Picasso.

Then in 1922, Bronislava Nijinska, Vaclav's sister, returned to Diaghilev. Diaghilev offered to stage it for her - and he was not mistaken. Her “Le Noces” to the music of Stravinsky is a powerful constructivist response to the equally powerful primitivism of Goncharova, who designed the performance. At the same time, in other ballets - for example, in "Fallow Deer" and "Blue Express" - Nijinska was graceful and ironic.

And finally, in 1924, twenty-year-old and fearless Georges Balanchivadze appeared in the troupe, who already had quite serious experience of working in the avant-garde post-revolutionary Petrograd, and was based on the most academic of schools. Diaghilev comes up with a new bright name for him - Balanchine - and almost immediately lets him stage it.

The most significant artistic destiny, which most influenced the path of world art - both ballet and music - awaited him. The most dazzling, but also the most independent of Diaghilev’s cohort of choreographers, after Diaghilev’s death he did not try to become the successor of the Russian Ballets, like Massine and partly Nijinska, and never considered himself the heir to this business. He created his own, and his own, completely devoid of a literary plot and built according to the laws of music. He created a brilliant ballet school from scratch - in the USA, where fate threw him 5 years after Diaghilev's death. And during his life he staged several hundred ballets, completely different from what he started with and what Diaghilev expected from him.

But wasn’t it the inoculation of modernism that he received at the Russian Ballets in the 1920s that allowed him to create such a living and new art on an impeccably classical basis? Because Balanchine, in his work, filled with the most modern energy, was a modernist to the core. And, by the way, wasn’t it Diaghilev who showed him how a private troupe survives - in any conditions? Years later, Balanchine restored two of his Diaghilev ballets to his - and therefore to the world's - repertoire: "" to the music of Stravinsky, where he removed all the decor, leaving only pure dance, and "Prodigal Son" to the music Prokofiev's ballet, which in 1929 became the last premiere of Diaghilev's enterprise. Here Balan-chin left virtually nothing untouched, restoring it as a monument to Diaghilev: with all the mimetic mise-en-scenes, with decorations and costumes by Georges Rouault, to which Sergei Pavlovich, as always, attached great importance.

The fates of the choreographers used by Diaghilev (this harsh word is quite appropriate here) developed differently. Fokin never recovered from the injury, remained forever offended, and after leaving Diaghilev he no longer created anything significant. For Balanchine, on the contrary, the Diaghilev years became an excellent springboard to brilliant and large-scale activities. Fokin was a man of the Silver Age; Balanchine, in the year of whose birth Fokine was already trying to reform ballet and sent manifesto letters to the directorate of the Imperial Theaters, belonged entirely to the next era.

Diaghilev was universal - he absorbed everything: both the “silver” entry into the new twentieth century, and this century itself, which, according to Akhmatov’s calendar, “began in the fall of 1914, along with the war.” And what at the everyday level seemed like a series of betrayals, the cynicism of a businessman, or the indulgence of another favorite, at a deeper level was the result of listening to the era. Therefore, in a broad sense, Diaghilev’s influence on world culture is similar to how time itself influenced this culture. And in a more specific sense, this influence - or rather, influence - was that those who determined the path of world art passed through the crucible of the Russian Ballets. Diaghilev also demonstrated the great and purely artistic power of the pragmatic: the combination of the high, which was considered art, and the low, which many of the artists considered commercial calculation.

“Russian Seasons” - tour performances of Russian ballet and opera artists (1908-29), organized by a famous cultural figure and entrepreneur abroad (since 1908 in Paris, since 1912 in London, since 1915 in other countries). The main activity of the enterprise was ballet. Operas were staged rarely and mostly before 1914.

The “Russian Seasons” began in 1906, when Diaghilev brought an exhibition of Russian artists to Paris. In 1907, a series of concerts of Russian music (“Historical Russian Concerts”) took place at the Grand Opera. Actually, the “Russian Seasons” began in 1908 in Paris, when the opera “Boris Godunov” was performed here (director Sanin, conductor Blumenfeld; set design by A. Golovin, A. Benois, K. Yuon, E. Lanceray; costumes by I. Bilibin; soloists Chaliapin, Kastorsky, Smirnov, Ermolenko-Yuzhina, etc.).

In 1909, the Parisians were presented with Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Woman of Pskov,” which was performed under the title “Ivan the Terrible” (among the soloists were Chaliapin, Lipkovskaya, and Kastorsky). In 1913, Khovanshchina was staged (directed by Sanin, conducted by Cooper, Chaliapin performed the role of Dosifei). In 1914, the world premiere of Stravinsky's opera The Nightingale (director Sanin, conductor Monteux) took place at the Grand Opera. In 1922, Stravinsky’s “The Mavra” was staged there.

In 1924, three operas by Gounod (The Dove, The Reluctant Doctor, Philemon and Baucis) were staged at the theater in Monte Carlo. Let us also note the world premiere (concert performance) of Stravinsky’s opera-oratorio “Oedipus Rex” (1927, Paris).

“Russian Seasons” played a huge role in the promotion of Russian art abroad and in the development of the world artistic process in the 20th century.

E. Tsodokov

“Russian Seasons” abroad, opera and ballet performances organized by S. P. Diaghilev. They were supported by circles of the Russian artistic intelligentsia (World of Art, Belyaevsky musical circle, etc.). The “Russian Seasons” began in Paris in 1907 with historical concerts with the participation of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, S. V. Rachmaninov, A. K. Glazunov, F. I. Chaliapin. In 1908-09 the operas “Boris Godunov” by Mussorgsky, “The Woman of Pskov” by Rimsky-Korsakov, “Prince Igor” by Borodin and others were performed.

In 1909, for the first time, along with opera performances, ballets by M. M. Fokin (previously staged by him in St. Petersburg) were shown: “Pavilion of Armida” (art. A. N. Benois), “Polovtsian Dances” (art. N. K. Roerich ); “La Sylphides” (“Chopiniana”) to the music of Chopin, “Cleopatra” (“Egyptian Nights”) by Arensky (artist L. S. Bakst) and the divertimento “Feast” to the music of Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Mussorgsky.

The ballet troupe consisted of artists from the St. Petersburg Mariinsky and Moscow Bolshoi theaters. Soloists - A. P. Pavlova, V. F. Nijinsky, T. P. Karsavina, E. V. Geltser, S. F. Fedorova, M. M. Mordkin, V. A. Karalli, M. P. Froman and etc. Choreographer - Fokine.

Since 1910, “Russian Seasons” took place without the participation of opera. In the 2nd season (Paris, Berlin, Brussels) new productions by Fokine were shown - “Carnival” (artist Bakst), “Scheherazade” to the music of Rimsky-Korsakov (same artist, curtain based on sketches by V. A. Serov), “ The Firebird" (artists A. Ya. Golovin and Bakst), as well as "Giselle" (edited by M. I. Petipa, artist Benois) and "Orientalia" (choreographic miniatures, including fragments from "Cleopatra", "Polovtsian Dances" ", numbers to the music of Arensky, Glazunov and others, "Siamese Dance" to the music of Sinding and "Kobold" to the music of Grieg, staged by Fokin for Nijinsky).

In 1911, Diaghilev decided to create a permanent troupe, which was finally formed by 1913 and received the name "".

In the twentieth century, Russia was in a rather ambiguous state: unrest within the country and a precarious position on the world stage took their toll. But despite all the ambiguity of the period, it was Russian artists who made a huge contribution to the development of European culture, namely thanks to Sergei Diaghilev’s “Russian Seasons”.

Sergei Diaghilev, 1910.

Sergei Diaghilev is a major theatrical and artistic figure, one of the founders of the World of Art group, which included Benois, Bilibin, Vasnetsov, and other famous artists. A legal education and an undoubted talent to see a promising artist in a person helped him “discover” real Russian art in Europe.

After his dismissal from the Mariinsky Theater, Diaghilev organized the exhibition “World of Art” in 1906, which then smoothly migrated to the Paris Autumn Salon. It was this event that gave rise to the conquest of Paris by Russian artists.

In 1908, the opera “Boris Godunov” was presented in Paris. The set design was done by A. Benois and E. Lanseray, who were already quite famous from the “World of Art”. I. Bilibin was responsible for the costumes. But the soloist made a striking impression on the discerning Parisians. The French public appreciated his talent back in 1907, when Diaghilev brought “Historical Russian Concerts” to Paris, which were also well received. So Fyodor Chaliapin became a favorite of European audiences, and later his fame reached the United States, where his work was liked by many. So Fyodor Chaliapin later expressed his love for art in his autobiography “Pages from My Life”:

“Remembering this, I can’t help but say: my life is difficult, but good! I experienced moments of great happiness thanks to art, which I passionately loved. Love is always happiness, no matter what we love, but love for art is the greatest happiness of our life!”

1909 is a landmark year for Diaghilev and his “Russian Seasons”. It was in this year that five ballet productions were presented: “Pavilion of Armida”, “Cleopatra”, “Polovtsian Dances”, “La Sylphide” and “The Feast”. The production was directed by the young but already promising choreographer Mikhail Fokin. The troupe included such stars of Moscow and St. Petersburg ballet as Nijinsky (Diaghilev was his patron), Rubinstein, Kshesinskaya, Karsavina, who, thanks to the Russian seasons, would get a start into a bright and wonderful future filled with world fame.

The inexplicable glory of Russian ballet, it turns out, has a very logical justification - in ballet there was a synthesis of all types of art, from musical to visual. This is what seduced the aesthetic tastes of the audience.

The following year Orientals, Carnival, Giselle, Scheherazade and Firebird were added to the repertoire. And, of course, delight and triumph were guaranteed.

"Diaghilev's Russian Ballet" was aimed at destroying existing foundations, and this was done successfully only thanks to the talent of Sergei Diaghilev. He did not take part in the production of the ballet, although, as we know, he was not at all far from the world of art (in every sense of the word). In this situation, his talent for choosing suitable and talented people, who may not yet be known to anyone, was revealed, but they are already making a serious bid for future recognition.

The role of the man became a revolutionary component in the ballet. One can guess that this was done because of Diaghilev’s favorite, Vaslav Nijinsky, the leading dancer and choreographer of the Diaghilev Russian Ballet troupe. Previously, the man was in the background, but now the ballet dancer and the ballerina have equal positions.

However, not all innovations were received positively. For example, the one-act ballet “The Afternoon of a Faun,” which lasted only 8 minutes, failed in 1912 on the stage of the Chatelet Theater in Paris due to negative reviews from the audience. They considered it vulgar and unacceptable for the big stage. Nijinsky appeared openly naked on stage: no caftans, camisoles or pants. The tights were complemented only by a small ponytail, a vine that wrapped around the waist, and a braided cap of golden hair with two golden horns. The Parisians booed the production, and a scandal broke out in the press.

But it is worth noting that in London the same production did not cause a storm of indignation.

Important people in the life of Sergei Diaghilev

What can make a person create? Of course love! Love of creativity, art and beauty in all its forms. The main thing is to meet inspiring people along your life path. Diaghilev had two favorites, whom he made real ballet stars.

Vaslav Nijinsky - dancer and choreographer, Diaghilev's muse and star of the first stage of the Russian Seasons. His extraordinary talent and spectacular appearance made a strong impression on the impresario. Nijinsky was born into a family of ballet dancers and from childhood was associated with the magical world of dance. His life also included the Mariinsky Theater, from which he left with a scandal, just like Diaghilev himself. But noticed by his future patron, he plunged into a completely different life - luxury and fame.

Popularity in Paris turned the head of the young talent, and Diaghilev himself spoiled his favorite dancer. One would think that this wonderful union cannot have black stripes: one loves, the other allows. But, as expected, they had a crisis, the fault of which was Nijinsky himself. Traveling through South America, he married his admirer and aristocrat Romola Pula. When Diaghilev found out about this, he took it too seriously and broke all ties with Nijinsky.

After being expelled from such a famous troupe, Nijinsky was depressed and found it difficult to cope with the realities of life, because before he had not known any worries, but simply lived and enjoyed life. All his bills were paid from his patron's pocket.

In recent years, the Russian ballet star suffered from schizophrenia, but thanks to intensive treatment, Vaslav Nijinsky still felt better and his last years were spent in a calm family circle.

The second important person in the life of the great impresario was Leonid Myasin, who studied at the Imperial School of the Bolshoi Theater. The young man headed the ballet troupe, and in 1917 the grand return of the Russian Seasons took place. Pablo Picasso himself is working on the sets for the ballets “Parade” and “Cocked Hat”. Massine achieved fame thanks to the phantasmagoria “Parade”, where he played the main role. But already in 1920, a conflict arose here too - the choreographer had to leave the troupe. The new choreographer was, not surprisingly, Nijinsky’s sister Bronislava, who also had talent in ballet.

The life of a talented person is always in contrast: without losses and failures, great victories are not realized. This is exactly how Sergei Diaghilev lived; his desperate love for his work and professionalism revealed dozens of people whose names everyone now knows.

In 1929, Sergei Diaghilev passed away; his funeral was paid for by Coco Chanel and Misia Sert, who had the most tender feelings for the genius.

His body was transported to the island of San Michele and buried in the Orthodox part of the cemetery.

On the marble tombstone is engraved the name of Diaghilev in Russian and French (Serge de Diaghilew) and the epitaph: “Venice is the constant inspirer of our peace” - a phrase he wrote shortly before his death in a dedicatory inscription to Serge Lifar. On the pedestal next to the photograph of the impresario there are almost always ballet shoes (to prevent them from being blown away by the wind, they are filled with sand) and other theatrical paraphernalia. In the same cemetery, next to Diaghilev's grave, there is the grave of his collaborator, the composer Igor Stravinsky, as well as the poet Joseph Brodsky, who called Diaghilev "Citizen of Perm".

It was thanks to the Russian entrepreneur that Europe saw a new Russia, which subsequently shaped the tastes and preferences of French high society. It was thanks to Sergei Diaghilev that the 20th century in world art began to be called the Golden Age of Russian ballet!

As in any business, Sergei Diaghilev’s “Russian Seasons” had its ups and downs, but only the memory, preserved after a century and living in immortal productions, is a real reward for any figure.

1. Russian seasons

theater ballet degilev

Classical Russian ballet transformed the art of world ballet. It was famous for many decades and is still famous today. But at the beginning of the 20th century, the star of new Russian choreography broke out, laying down its own traditions - and these traditions not only live to this day, but have become the herald of a new world art. Russian ballet of the early 20th century is a completely unexpected word in the art of ballet, and ballet culture seems to have been waiting for it for a long time.

Until now, world ballet is fed by the discoveries and innovations of the Russian troupe, which performed in Europe in the 1910-1920s, and develops and transforms the traditions it established. By a strange twist of fate, the new Russian ballet was born and gained worldwide fame outside of Russia, but it was created by Russian artists, Russian choreographers, artists, and composers. It was no coincidence that the troupe was called “Russian Ballet of Sergei Diaghilev”. Diaghilev's ballet seasons not only introduced the world to a new Russian ballet, but also most fully revealed the talents of many Russian artists, and here they came to world fame.

It all started in 1907, when Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev opened a Russian enterprise in Paris called “Russian Seasons”. Europe was already familiar with the name of Diaghilev. An unusually energetic entrepreneur, also known in Russia as a serious expert on world culture, author of works on the history of Russian painting, one of the organizers of the artistic association “World of Art”, editor of the magazines “World of Art” and “Yearbook of Imperial Theaters”, organizer of art exhibitions, theater figure , a man close both to ballet circles and to the circle of artists and composers, Diaghilev by that time had managed to organize in Europe more than one exhibition of works by Russian artists, representatives of that new Russian art, which would later be called the art of the Silver Age, the art of the Art Nouveau era.

Diaghilev began his “Russian Seasons” in Paris with “Historical Concerts”, in which S. V. Rakhmanov, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. K. Glazunov, F. I. Chaliapin, and the choir of the Maritime Bolshoi Theater took part. The following year, Diaghilev brought Russian opera to Paris, introducing the European audience to masterpieces of productions of works by M. P. Mussorsky, A. P. Borodin, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov (the main roles were sung by Fyodor Chaliapin). In the 1909 season, ballet appeared in Diaghilev's enterprise. Ballet performances took place during recess with opera performances. He brought to Europe the flower of Russian theatrical culture - dancers V. F. Nijinsky, A. P. Pavlova, T. P. Karsavin, choreographer M. M. Fokin, invited artists A. N. Benois, L. S. to work as decorators. Baksta, N.K. Roerich, A. Ya. Golovin.

The success of the ballet productions was so resounding that the following year Diaghilev abandoned opera and brought only ballet to Paris. We can say that since 1910 he has become exclusively a “ballet entrepreneur.” Diaghilev devoted the rest of his life to ballet.

Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev has long had a passion for ballet theater. In 1899-1901 he directed the production of Sylvia by L. Delibes on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater. Diaghilev tried to update the scenography of the ballet, but met resistance from the theater management and was fired “for undermining academic traditions.” As we can see, Diaghilev’s desire to search for new paths in ballet appeared long before his Parisian “seasons”.

In 1910, Diaghilev brought to Paris Fokine’s ballets, staged by this choreographer on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater - “Scheherazade” by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, “Cleopard” by A. S. Arensky, “Pavilion of Armida” by N. N. Cherepnin, “Giselle” by A. Adam. Polovtsian dances from the opera “Prince Igor” by A.P. Borodin were also presented. Preparations for the season began in St. Petersburg. Here the outstanding talent of Diaghilev as an entrepreneur appeared in full. First of all, the St. Petersburg productions were edited to make the choreography more complex. With the help of M. F. Kshesinskaya, a member of the troupe close to the court, Diaghilev managed to obtain a substantial subsidy for this season (among the “sponsors” was Emperor Nicholas 2). Diaghilev managed to find patrons among French patrons of the arts.

He assembled an entreprise troupe from young people, primarily from supporters of Fokine's choreography - these were Pavlova, Karsavina, Bolm, Nijinsky. From Moscow he invited Coralli, Geltser, and Mordkin. The French were shocked by the Russian ballet - both by the originality of the choreography, and the brilliance of the performers, and the painting of the scenery, and the spectacular costumes. Each performance was a spectacle of amazing beauty and perfection. Nijinsky, Pavlova, Karsavina became a discovery for Europe.

The Diaghilev seasons were called “Russian seasons abroad” and took place annually until 1913. The 1910 season was the first season, and in 1911 Diaghilev decided to create a separate ballet troupe, called the Diaghilev Russian Ballet. Fokine became its main choreographer. The legendary performances “The Vision of a Rose” to the music of K. M. Weber, “Narcissus” by N. N. Tcherepnin, “Daphnis and Chloe” by M. Ravel, “Tamara” to the music of M. A. Balakirev were staged here.

The main event of the first seasons was the ballet “Petrushka” staged by Fokine in 1911 to the music of I. F. Stravinsky (the artist was A. N. Benois), where Nijinsky performed in the title role. This part became one of the peaks in the artist’s work.

Since 1912, Diaghilev's troupe begins to tour the world - London, Rome, Berlin, American cities. These tours contributed not only to strengthening the glory of the new Russian ballet, but also to the revival of ballet in a number of European countries, and subsequently to the emergence of ballet theaters in countries that did not yet have their own ballet, for example, in the United States, in some Latin American countries.

Diaghilev’s troupe was destined to open one of the most remarkable pages in the history of the ballet theater, and Diaghilev, thanks to his activities in it, was rightfully called “the creator of a new artistic culture” (the words belong to the dancer and choreographer Sergei Lifar). The troupe existed until 1929, that is, until the death of its creator. Fame always accompanied her, the productions of Diaghilev’s troupe amazed at their high artistic level, they shone with outstanding talents, which Diaghilev knew how to find and which Diaghilev nurtured.

The troupe's activities are divided into two periods - from 1911 to 1917. and from 1917 to 1929. The first period is associated with the activities of Fokine, dancers Nijinsky, Karsavina, Pavlova, as well as with the work of the artists of the “World of Art” - Benois, Dobuzhinsky, Bext, Sudeikin, Golovin, with Russian classical composers N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. K Lyadov, M. A. Balakirev, P. I. Tchaikovsky to the people with modern Russian composers N. N. Cherepnin, I. F. Stravinsky, C. Debusset.

The second period is associated with the names of choreographers L. F. Massine, J. Balanchine, dancers Sergei Lifar, Alicia Markova, Anton Dolin, European artists P. Picasso, A. Beauchamp, M. Utrillo, A. Matisse and Russian avant-garde artists - M F. Larionov, N. S. Goncharova, G. B. Yakulov, modern Russian and foreign composers - Stravinsky, Prokofiev, F. Poulenc, E. Satie.

In 1917, Diaghilev invited the famous Ernesto Cecchetti, an admirer and connoisseur of Russian classical ballet, as a teacher-tutor: Diaghilev never declared a break with the great traditions of Russian ballet; even in his most “modernist” productions, he still remained within their framework

It's rare that a renowned troupe has remained at the peak of success for three or three seasons in a row. Diaghilev's troupe remained at the level of world fame for 20 years. The director of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, S. L. Grigoriev, wrote: “It is difficult to conquer Paris. Maintaining influence over 20 seasons is quite a feat.” Over the years of the company's existence, it has staged more than 20 ballets.

It is impossible not to take into account that after 1917 the European ballet theater entered a state of crisis. The classical school had chewed itself out, few new ideas and names appeared. It was at such a crisis moment that Diaghilev’s brilliant team gave the world examples of high art, endowed world ballet with new ideas, and proposed new ways for its development.

2. Pages of Diaghilev's ballet

Diaghilev had the rare flair of an entrepreneur and the rare flair of an artistic director. He never staged anything himself, did not compose music, did not invent scenery. But he was the soul of the body - he knew how to find talent, he set the tone, taste, he determined the style of productions, the style of the entire enterprise. He knew what to focus on and what was needed to create a genuine work of art.

In the era when Diaghilev began his career, classical ballet was dominated by reckless faith in the dancer, in his magic, in his power on stage. Diaghilev was one of the first to understand that the organizing principle of a ballet performance - as is known, is a synthetic phenomenon - is the director-choreographer. “One of the most difficult tasks,” he said, “is to discover a choreographer.” All the productions in Diaghilev's troupe are, first of all, staged, choreographer's masterpieces. Diaghilev attracted talented choreographers, and they, in turn, found a wide field of activity for themselves. It is enough to name the names of Fokine or Balanchine to understand that Diaghilev was not mistaken here, each name is a whole era, a school of direction. He knew how to educate a choreographer, to educate him in his own spirit, as was the case with the young L. Massine, who went to Diaghilev in 1914, or with the experienced Bronislava Nijinska, who performed in Diaghilev’s ballet roles in her youth, and in 1922 joined his troupe as a choreographer.

The words will sound strange - Diaghilev’s ballets are picturesque. In his ballets, painting is an integral part of the performance, just like dance and music. Diaghilev’s troupe in its first productions grew up on the paintings of the “Mirskusniks”, and it grew not only ideologically - the paintings of the Miriskusniks influenced the plasticity, the style of the new choreography.

In the second period of activity in the Diaghilev Russian Ballet, the influence of modernism began to intensify, the ballets became more complex plastically, the plot left them, or rather, the plastic itself turned into a “plot”. At this time, European trends came to Diaghilev's ballet. When Diaghilev began to collaborate with new European artists, and the troupe’s repertoire began to be dominated by ballets by contemporary French, Austrian, Italian composers, this also could not but have an impact on the choreography and the plastic culture of Diaghilev’s ballets. Diaghilev's troupe in the history of ballet was, among other things, a stylistic phenomenon; its style determined the time - just as time determined its style.

theater ballet degilev

Classical Russian ballet transformed the art of world ballet. It was famous for many decades and is still famous today. But at the beginning of the 20th century, the star of new Russian choreography broke out, laying down its own traditions - and these traditions not only live to this day, but have become the herald of a new world art. Russian ballet of the early 20th century is a completely unexpected word in the art of ballet, and ballet culture seems to have been waiting for it for a long time.

Until now, world ballet is fed by the discoveries and innovations of the Russian troupe, which performed in Europe in the 1910-1920s, and develops and transforms the traditions it established. By a strange twist of fate, the new Russian ballet was born and gained worldwide fame outside of Russia, but it was created by Russian artists, Russian choreographers, artists, and composers. It was no coincidence that the troupe was called “Russian Ballet of Sergei Diaghilev”. Diaghilev's ballet seasons not only introduced the world to a new Russian ballet, but also most fully revealed the talents of many Russian artists, and here they came to world fame.

It all started in 1907, when Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev opened a Russian enterprise in Paris called “Russian Seasons”. Europe was already familiar with the name of Diaghilev. An unusually energetic entrepreneur, also known in Russia as a serious expert on world culture, author of works on the history of Russian painting, one of the organizers of the artistic association “World of Art”, editor of the magazines “World of Art” and “Yearbook of Imperial Theaters”, organizer of art exhibitions, theater figure , a man close both to ballet circles and to the circle of artists and composers, Diaghilev by that time had managed to organize in Europe more than one exhibition of works by Russian artists, representatives of that new Russian art, which would later be called the art of the Silver Age, the art of the Art Nouveau era.

Diaghilev began his “Russian Seasons” in Paris with “Historical Concerts”, in which S. V. Rakhmanov, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. K. Glazunov, F. I. Chaliapin, and the choir of the Maritime Bolshoi Theater took part. The following year, Diaghilev brought Russian opera to Paris, introducing the European audience to masterpieces of productions of works by M. P. Mussorsky, A. P. Borodin, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov (the main roles were sung by Fyodor Chaliapin). In the 1909 season, ballet appeared in Diaghilev's enterprise. Ballet performances took place during recess with opera performances. He brought to Europe the flower of Russian theatrical culture - dancers V. F. Nijinsky, A. P. Pavlova, T. P. Karsavin, choreographer M. M. Fokin, invited artists A. N. Benois, L. S. to work as decorators. Baksta, N.K. Roerich, A. Ya. Golovin.

The success of the ballet productions was so resounding that the following year Diaghilev abandoned opera and brought only ballet to Paris. We can say that since 1910 he has become exclusively a “ballet entrepreneur.” Diaghilev devoted the rest of his life to ballet.

Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev has long had a passion for ballet theater. In 1899-1901 he directed the production of Sylvia by L. Delibes on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater. Diaghilev tried to update the scenography of the ballet, but met resistance from the theater management and was fired “for undermining academic traditions.” As we can see, Diaghilev’s desire to search for new paths in ballet appeared long before his Parisian “seasons”.

In 1910, Diaghilev brought to Paris Fokine’s ballets, staged by this choreographer on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater - “Scheherazade” by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, “Cleopard” by A. S. Arensky, “Pavilion of Armida” by N. N. Cherepnin, “Giselle” by A. Adam. Polovtsian dances from the opera “Prince Igor” by A.P. Borodin were also presented. Preparations for the season began in St. Petersburg. Here the outstanding talent of Diaghilev as an entrepreneur appeared in full. First of all, the St. Petersburg productions were edited to make the choreography more complex. With the help of M. F. Kshesinskaya, a member of the troupe close to the court, Diaghilev managed to obtain a substantial subsidy for this season (among the “sponsors” was Emperor Nicholas 2). Diaghilev managed to find patrons among French patrons of the arts.

He assembled an entreprise troupe from young people, primarily from supporters of Fokine's choreography - these were Pavlova, Karsavina, Bolm, Nijinsky. From Moscow he invited Coralli, Geltser, and Mordkin. The French were shocked by the Russian ballet - both by the originality of the choreography, and the brilliance of the performers, and the painting of the scenery, and the spectacular costumes. Each performance was a spectacle of amazing beauty and perfection. Nijinsky, Pavlova, Karsavina became a discovery for Europe.

The Diaghilev seasons were called “Russian seasons abroad” and took place annually until 1913. The 1910 season was the first season, and in 1911 Diaghilev decided to create a separate ballet troupe, called the Diaghilev Russian Ballet. Fokine became its main choreographer. The legendary performances “The Vision of a Rose” to the music of K. M. Weber, “Narcissus” by N. N. Tcherepnin, “Daphnis and Chloe” by M. Ravel, “Tamara” to the music of M. A. Balakirev were staged here.

The main event of the first seasons was the ballet “Petrushka” staged by Fokine in 1911 to the music of I. F. Stravinsky (the artist was A. N. Benois), where Nijinsky performed in the title role. This part became one of the peaks in the artist’s work.

Since 1912, Diaghilev's troupe begins to tour the world - London, Rome, Berlin, American cities. These tours contributed not only to strengthening the glory of the new Russian ballet, but also to the revival of ballet in a number of European countries, and subsequently to the emergence of ballet theaters in countries that did not yet have their own ballet, for example, in the United States, in some Latin American countries.

Diaghilev’s troupe was destined to open one of the most remarkable pages in the history of the ballet theater, and Diaghilev, thanks to his activities in it, was rightfully called “the creator of a new artistic culture” (the words belong to the dancer and choreographer Sergei Lifar). The troupe existed until 1929, that is, until the death of its creator. Fame always accompanied her, the productions of Diaghilev’s troupe amazed at their high artistic level, they shone with outstanding talents, which Diaghilev knew how to find and which Diaghilev nurtured.

The troupe's activities are divided into two periods - from 1911 to 1917. and from 1917 to 1929. The first period is associated with the activities of Fokine, dancers Nijinsky, Karsavina, Pavlova, as well as with the work of the artists of the “World of Art” - Benois, Dobuzhinsky, Bext, Sudeikin, Golovin, with Russian classical composers N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. K Lyadov, M. A. Balakirev, P. I. Tchaikovsky to the people with modern Russian composers N. N. Cherepnin, I. F. Stravinsky, C. Debusset.

The second period is associated with the names of choreographers L. F. Massine, J. Balanchine, dancers Sergei Lifar, Alicia Markova, Anton Dolin, European artists P. Picasso, A. Beauchamp, M. Utrillo, A. Matisse and Russian avant-garde artists - M F. Larionov, N. S. Goncharova, G. B. Yakulov, modern Russian and foreign composers - Stravinsky, Prokofiev, F. Poulenc, E. Satie.

In 1917, Diaghilev invited the famous Ernesto Cecchetti, an admirer and connoisseur of Russian classical ballet, as a teacher-tutor: Diaghilev never declared a break with the great traditions of Russian ballet; even in his most “modernist” productions, he still remained within their framework

It's rare that a renowned troupe has remained at the peak of success for three or three seasons in a row. Diaghilev's troupe remained at the level of world fame for 20 years. The director of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, S. L. Grigoriev, wrote: “It is difficult to conquer Paris. To maintain influence over 20 seasons is a feat." Over the years of the company's existence, it has staged more than 20 ballets.

It is impossible not to take into account that after 1917 the European ballet theater entered a state of crisis. The classical school had chewed itself out, few new ideas and names appeared. It was at such a crisis moment that Diaghilev’s brilliant team gave the world examples of high art, endowed world ballet with new ideas, and proposed new ways for its development.