The first quarter of the twentieth century was a time of innovation. At the same time, they were held in Europe with an unprecedented full house. "Russian Seasons", arranged Sergei Diaghilev. The impresario was passionate about expanding the boundaries of traditional ballet, so he gathered around him talented dancers, composers and artists, who together created a ballet that was ahead of its time. Europe has applauded “Russian Seasons” for 20 years.

Sergei Diaghilev spent his childhood and youth in Perm (Northern Urals). After the future impresario graduated from law school, he realized that he wanted to devote himself to culture.

The turning point in Sergei Diaghilev's life came when he moved from Russia to Paris in 1906. He organized an exhibition of paintings by Russian artists there and a series of concerts dedicated to the work of Russian composers. But most of all, he was remembered by posterity as the organizer of the “Russian Seasons” - innovative ballet productions.

Back in 1899, as an official on special assignments under the director of the Imperial Theaters, Diaghilev saw the performance of Isadora Duncan and Mikhail Fokin. Dance innovations delighted Diaghilev. He decided that it was no longer possible to surprise the public with traditional choreography, so in 1909 he opened the Season of Russian Ballets in Paris.

Anna Pavlova, Mikhail Fokin, Vaslav Nijinsky created something unique. New choreography, music by Stravinsky, Debussy, Prokofiev, Strauss merged together. Alexandre Benois, Pablo Picasso, Coco Chanel, and Henri Matisse realized their fantasies in the design of costumes and scenery.

The three earliest ballets: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911), and The Rite of Spring (1913) created a sensation. Although it is worth noting that the public did not immediately accept the innovation of Diaghilev and his team. At the premiere of the ballet “The Rite of Spring,” the audience did not understand what was happening on stage: they screamed so much that they drowned out the orchestra. Choreographer Nijinsky had to tap a beat so that the artists could continue dancing. However, after the “Russian Seasons”, a fashion for everything Russian appeared in Europe: foreign dancers changed their names in the Russian manner, and the wife of King George VI walked down the aisle in a dress decorated with elements from Russian folklore.

For 20 years, Europe applauded the Russian Seasons. Despite the fact that Sergei Diaghilev was a welcome guest in the most famous aristocratic houses of Europe, this man spent his entire life teetering on the brink of ruin. Diaghilev suffered from diabetes for a long time, but did not follow the diet prescribed to him. In 1929, his health deteriorated sharply; while in Venice, he fell into a coma from which he never recovered.
After the collapse of Russian Seasons, she continued to excite the public for more than a decade.

Russian seasons of Sergei Diaghilev

110 years ago, the “Russian Seasons” of Sergei Diaghilev, the first producer of our country, a nobleman, musician, lawyer, editor, collector and dictator, opened in Paris. “A Russian prince who was satisfied with life only if miracles happened in it,” composer Claude Debussy wrote about him. We are talking about the man who introduced the world to Russian ballet.

TASS/Reuters

"I'm not exactly an ordinary person, damn it."

As a student, he once came to visit Leo Tolstoy without an invitation, and after that he even corresponded with him. “You have to go ahead. You have to amaze and not be afraid of it, you have to perform right away, show yourself entirely, with all the qualities and shortcomings of your nationality,” wrote Sergei Diaghilev. He was, without a doubt, a very Russian person - with all the virtues and vices inherent in Russian people. He had the face of a master, and he could certainly play one of the merchants Alexander Ostrovsky, especially since he was artistic from childhood. But it turned out that what he knew best was not how to create himself, but how to help others create.

His early childhood was spent in St. Petersburg. Then, due to financial difficulties, the family moved to Perm, where in the 1880s the Diaghilevs’ house became a real cultural center. Sergei started playing music early. At the age of 15, he first wrote a romance, and at 18 he gave a solo piano concert - still in Perm. In 1890, he entered the Faculty of Law and went to study in St. Petersburg. It’s not that he wanted to be a lawyer, it’s just that the choice for young people at that time was small: they made a career either in the army or in the civil service - and for the latter, a legal education was the most suitable. He was truly interested in art. Before starting his studies, he traveled to Europe, where he attended the opera for the first time and was delighted by the Catholic churches and museums.

The year 1890 was the beginning of a new life for Diaghilev. He met and began to communicate with Alexandre Benois and Walter Nouvel - future comrades in the "World of Art" movement, but for now - just friends. At that time, Diaghilev wrote a lot of music and was sure that he would become a composer.

Everything changed after meeting Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Diaghilev played several of his works to the composer, hoping that the master would agree to become his teacher. The answer ruined all the young man’s plans: Rimsky-Korsakov called his works “absurd.” And although Diaghilev, offended, promised that he would hear about him again, this was the end of his serious relationship with music.

Sets by Leon Bakst for the ballet Scheherazade to music by Rimsky-Korsakov, 1910

"Big Charlatan"

Having broken with music, Diaghilev turned to painting, but not as an artist, but as a connoisseur and critic. In the fall of 1895, he wrote to his stepmother: “I am, firstly, a big charlatan, albeit with brilliance, and secondly, a big charmer (enchanter, sorcerer. - TASS note), thirdly - a big impudent person, fourthly, a person with a lot of logic and a small amount of principles and, fifthly, it seems, mediocrity; however, if you like, I seem to have found my real meaning - patronage of the arts." However, he still did not have enough money for patronage of the arts. While Diaghilev wrote critical articles about art and organized an exhibition. And in 1898, when Diaghilev was 26, he came out the first issue of the World of Art magazine, which the future impresario will edit himself for several years.

A year later, Sergei Pavlovich’s career takes off rapidly: the director of the Imperial Theaters, Prince Sergei Volkonsky, appoints him as an official on special assignments and editor of the “Yearbook of the Imperial Theaters.” This is how Diaghilev turns to ballet. Sergei Pavlovich was only 27, but a gray strand was already noticeable in his black hair, for which he was nicknamed chinchilla (pronounced “chenschel” in the French manner). Matilda Kshesinskaya, the brightest star of the Russian ballet of that time, seeing Diaghilev in the box, sang to herself: “Now I found out // What’s in the shenschel’s box. // And I’m terribly afraid, // That I’ll lose my way in the dance.” They feared him, but they also loved him. In 1900, he was commissioned to stage a ballet for the first time. It would seem that a brilliant future awaited him, but, as Volkonsky wrote, Diaghilev “had the talent to turn everyone against himself.” The officials did not work well with the “shenchel”, and he soon left the theater management.

Having become so familiar with ballet, Diaghilev treated it with disdain.

Oddly enough, it was with this type of art that he happened to connect his life.

Dancer Nikolai Kremnev, artist Alexandre Benois, dancers Sergei Grigoriev and Tamara Karsavina, Sergei Diaghilev, dancers Vaslav Nijinsky and Serge Lifar on the stage of the Grand Opera in Paris

Russian ballet

Diaghilev decided to introduce the world to Russian art. “If Europe needs Russian art, then it needs its youth and its spontaneity,” he wrote. In 1907, Sergei Pavlovich arranged performances for Russian musicians abroad - by the way, among the composers he brought to perform was Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1908, he bet on Russian opera. Then these performances began to be called “seasons”. A year later, Diaghilev took ballet to Paris for the first time. And it was a perfect hit: the success was enormous.

As a result, Sergei Pavlovich abandoned the “seasons”, creating the “Diaghilev Russian Ballet”. The troupe was based in Monaco and performed mainly in Europe (and only once in the USA). Diaghilev never returned to Russia - first because of the First World War, and then because of the revolution. But he created a fashion for everything Russian in Europe.

In the photo on the left: a scene from the ballet "Millions of Harlequins". In the photo on the right: a scene from the ballet "The Blue Express". The dancers on the left are wearing costumes designed by Coco Chanel.

Costume designs by Lev Bakst for "Carnival" (1910) and "The Vision of a Rose" (1911) and Mikhail Larionov for the ballet "The Fool" (1921)

Costume design by Lev Bakst for The Sleeping Beauty, 1921

Stars worked with Diaghilev - not only dancers, but also artists and musicians. Coco Chanel created costumes for the Blue Express enterprise - and thereby “married” fashion and ballet. Thanks to Diaghilev's ballet, the world began to admire Russian ballerinas. The first among them was the great Anna Pavlova. Many imitated her style of dressing, soap, fabric, dessert were named after her... And although she performed in Diaghilev’s troupe only at the very beginning (later their relationship with the impresario went wrong), it is still impossible not to admit that Diaghilev was responsible for creating the “fashion for Pavlova.” also had a hand.

Left: Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky in a scene from the ballet Armida's Pavilion. In the photo on the right - Serge Lifar and Alexandra Danilova in a scene from "The Triumph of Neptune"

"Spontaneous Man"

Sergei Pavlovich not only invited already recognized stars to collaborate - he managed to cultivate new ones. For example, Serge Lifar came to Monte Carlo very young. He was afraid of Diaghilev, doubted his abilities and considered joining a monastery. Sergei Pavlovich believed in him, and over time Lifar became first the leading artist of the troupe, and later the choreographer. It is no secret that they had a close relationship - Diaghilev never hid that he preferred men. But, as Lifar recalls, the impresario did not mix personal and work. Only once, angry with Serge, he almost ruined the performance by ordering the conductor to change something in the tempo and without warning Lifar about it. As a result, the dancer was forced to redo his part on the fly and, by his own admission, almost killed his partner and was eager to beat the conductor. “At the end of the performance,” Serge wrote later, “Sergei Pavlovich sent me flowers with a pinned card on which one word was written: “peace.”

Lifar remained with Diaghilev until his death. Sergei Pavlovich died at the age of 57 in Venice. The cause was furunculosis. The disease, which now does not seem at all serious, in those days, due to the lack of antibiotics, could be fatal. And so it happened: abscesses led to blood poisoning. A man whose case was known to the whole world was buried modestly and only by his closest friends.

“Diaghilev did three things: he opened Russia to the Russians, he opened Russia to the world; in addition, he showed the world, a new world, to himself,” his contemporary Francis Steigmuller wrote about him. Sergei Pavlovich really showed the world Russia as he knew it.

When preparing the material, the books were used by Natalia Chernyshova-Melnik “Diaghilev”, Serge Lifar “With Diaghilev”, Sheng Scheyen “Sergei Diaghilev. “Russian Seasons” forever”, Alexander Vasilyev “History of Fashion. Issue 2. Costumes of “Russian Seasons of Sergei Diaghilev”, as well as other open sources

We worked on the material

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Photographs used in the material: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images, TASS, ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Image, EPA/VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, Universal History Archive/Getty Images, Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images, wikimedia.org.

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 creative path of an outstanding entrepreneur.

The cult of pure art

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

Reviews from art criticism turned out to be more than favorable, and for most Parisians, Russian painting became a real discovery. The author of the biography of the impresario, writer Natalia Chernyshova-Melnik, in the book “Diaghilev” quotes reviews from the Parisian press: “But could we suspect the existence of a great poet - the unfortunate Vrubel? Anisfeld and Rylov are very valuable landscape painters..."

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 stimulated 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 Paris Grand Opera. Diaghilev carefully approached the selection of the repertoire: works by Mikhail Glinka, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest Mussorgsky, Alexander Borodin, Alexander Scriabin were heard from the stage. As in the case of the 1906 exhibition, Diaghilev took a responsible approach to the accompanying materials: printed concert programs told short biographies of Russian composers. The concerts were as successful as the first Russian exhibition, and it was his performance as Prince Igor in the Historical Russian Concerts that made Fyodor Chaliapin famous. Of the composers, the Parisian public especially warmly received Mussorgsky, for whom from that time on there was great fashion in France.

Convinced that Russian music arouses keen interest among Europeans, Diaghilev chose the opera Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky for the third Russian season in 1908. In preparation for the production, the impresario personally studied the author's score, noting that in the production of the opera edited by Rimsky-Korsakov, two scenes were removed that he considered important for the overall dramaturgy. In Paris, Diaghilev presented the opera in a new version, which has since been used by many modern directors. Diaghilev did not hesitate at all to adapt the source material, adapting to the audience, whose viewing habits he knew very well. Therefore, for example, in his “Godunov” the final scene was the death of Boris - to enhance the dramatic effect. The same applied to the timing of 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 the seconds. The success of the Paris version of Boris Godunov only confirmed Diaghilev’s authority as a director.

Diaghilev's Russian Ballet

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

Covent Garden workshop. Sergei Diaghilev, Vladimir Polunin and Pablo Picasso, author of sketches for the ballet “Cocked Hat”. London. 1919. Photo: stil-gizni.com

At the plane are 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 of ​​bringing ballet abroad came to the impresario in 1907. Then at the Mariinsky Theater he saw Mikhail Fokine's production of Armida's Pavilion, a ballet to the music of Nikolai Tcherepnin with scenery by Alexandre Benois. At that time, among young dancers and choreographers there was a certain opposition to the classical traditions, which, as Diaghilev said, were “jealously guarded” by Marius Petipa. “Then I thought about new short ballets, - Diaghilev later wrote 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 more closely than has been observed so far". With these thoughts, he began 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, Vaslav Nijinsky, Ida Rubinstein, Vera Caralli 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 Misy Sert, Diaghilev rented the old Parisian theater Chatelet. The interior of the theater was remodeled especially for the premiere of Russian plays 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 Armida”, “Cleopatra” and “La Sylphides”, as well as “Polovtsian Dances” from the opera “Prince Igor” by Alexander Borodin. Rehearsals took place in a tense atmosphere: amid the clatter of hammers and the screeching of saws during the reconstruction of the Chatelet. Mikhail Fokin, the main choreographer of the productions, has repeatedly created scandals about this. The premiere of the fourth Russian season took place on May 19, 1909. Most spectators 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 this, Diaghilev focused entirely on the ballet enterprise and significantly updated the repertoire, including “Scheherazade” to the music of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and a ballet based on Russian folk tales “The Firebird” in the Seasons program. The entrepreneur asked Anatoly Lyadov to write the music for the latter, but he could not cope - and the order went to the young composer Igor Stravinsky. From that moment his many years of fruitful collaboration with Diaghilev began.

Russian ballet in Cologne during Sergei Diaghilev's European tour. 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 new season's performances 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 scenery, recalled: “The crazy success of “Scheherazade” (all of Paris dressed up in oriental clothes!)”.

The Firebird premiered on June 25. The artistic elite of Paris gathered in the crowded hall of the Grand Opera, including Marcel Proust (The Russian Seasons are mentioned more than once on 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 that were supposed to appear on stage during the performance. Igor Stravinsky recalled this incident: “...The poor animals came out, as expected, in turn, but began to neigh and dance, and one of them showed herself to be more of a critic than an actor, leaving a foul-smelling calling card... But this episode was later forgotten in the heat of general applause for the new ballet ». Mikhail Fokin combined pantomime, grotesque and classical dance in the production. All this was harmoniously combined with the scenery by Alexander Golovin and the music of Stravinsky. "The Firebird", as the Parisian critic Henri Geon noted, was “a miracle of the most delightful balance between movements, sounds and forms...”

In 1911, Sergei Diaghilev secured the permanent location of 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 Fokin. 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 that season.

The following Russian seasons, in 1912–1917, also due to the war in Europe, were not very successful for Diaghilev. Among the most offensive failures was the premiere of the innovative ballet “The Rite of Spring” to the music of Igor Stravinsky, which the public did not accept. The audience did not appreciate the “barbaric dances” accompanied by unusual pagan stormy music. At the same time, Diaghilev parted ways with Nijinsky and Fokine and invited the young dancer and choreographer Leonid Massine to the troupe.

Pablo Picasso. Later, artists Joan Miro and Max Ernst created 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 acquired new dancers, invited by Bronislava Nijinska, 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 his work in ballet; moreover, he became interested in books and became an avid collector. The last great success of the Diaghilev troupe was Leonide Massine's 1928 production of Apollo Musagete, with music by Igor Stravinsky and costumes by Coco Chanel.

The Russian Ballet operated successfully until Diaghilev's death in 1929. In his memoirs, Igor Stravinsky, speaking about new trends in ballet of the twentieth century, noted: “...would these trends have arisen without Diaghilev? Don't think".

Topic: “Sergei Diaghilev and his “Russian Seasons” in Paris.”

Introduction

S.P. Diaghilev was an outstanding figure in Russian art, a promoter and organizer of tours of Russian art abroad. He was neither a dancer, nor a choreographer, nor a playwright, nor an artist, and yet his name is known to millions of ballet lovers in Russia and Europe. Diaghilev opened Russian ballet to Europe; he demonstrated that while ballet was declining and dying in European capitals, in St. Petersburg it strengthened and became a very significant art.

From 1907 to 1922, S. P. Diaghilev organized 70 performances from Russian classics to modern authors. At least 50 performances were musical novelties. He was “eternally followed by eight carriages of scenery and three thousand costumes.” The Russian Ballet toured Europe and the USA, always receiving thunderous applause.

The most famous performances that delighted audiences in Europe and America for almost two decades were: “Pavilion of Armida” (N. Cherepanin, A. Benois, M. Fokin); “Firebird” (I. Stravinsky, A. Golovin, L. Bakst, M. Fokin); “Narcissus and Echo” (N. Cherepanin, L. Bakst, V. Nijinsky); “The Rite of Spring” (I. Stravinsky, N. Roerich, V. Nijinsky); “Petrushka” (I. Stravinsky, A. Benois, M. Fokin); “Midas” (M. Steinberg, L. Bakst, M. Dobuzhinsky); “The Jester” (S. Prokofiev, M. Lermontov, T. Slavinsky), etc.

About S. P. Diaghilev. His characterization by contemporaries

S.P. Diaghilev can be called an administrator, entrepreneur, organizer of exhibitions and all kinds of artistic events - all these definitions suit him, but the main thing about him is his service to Russian culture. S.P. Diaghilev brought together everything that without him could have happened on its own or already existed on its own - the work of various artists, performers, musicians, Russia and the West, past and present, and only thanks to him all this was linked and consistent with each other , acquiring new value in unity.

“Diaghilev combined diverse and often contradictory tastes, affirming artistic perception and eclecticism. Reverently before the masters of the “Great Age” and the Rococo century, he was delighted with Russian wild children like Malyutin, E. Polyakova, Yakunchikova..., he was touched by the landscapes of Levitan and the skill of Repin, and when he saw enough of the Parisian “constructive” innovations, he He became closest friends with Picasso, Derain, Léger. Few are given such an ability to feel beauty...” - from the memoirs of contemporaries.

He was richly gifted musically, sensitive to beauty in all its manifestations, well versed in music, vocals, painting, and from childhood he showed himself to be a great lover of theatre, opera, and ballet; Subsequently, he became a skillful and enterprising organizer, a tireless worker who knew how to force people to implement their ideas. Of course, he “used” them, taking from his comrades what he needed, but at the same time he made their talents blossom, charmed and attracted their hearts. It is also true that, with equal charm to his ruthlessness, he knew how to both exploit people and part with them.

Diaghilev's broad sense of beauty attracted extraordinary people, individuals and individualists to him. And he knew how to communicate with them. “Diaghilev had the ability to make the object or person to whom he paid his attention especially shine. He knew how to show things from their best side. He knew how to bring out the best qualities of people and things.”

He was a born organizer, a leader with dictatorial tendencies, and he knew his worth. He did not tolerate anyone who could compete with him, and nothing that could stand in his way. Possessing a complex and contradictory nature, he knew how to maneuver among the intrigues, envy, slander and gossip that abound in the artistic environment.

“His intuition, his sensitivity and his phenomenal memory allowed him to remember an innumerable number of masterpieces (paintings) and never forget them again.

He had an exceptional visual memory and an iconographic sense that surprised us all,” recalled Igor Grabar, his university classmate. “Quick and categorical in his judgments, he, of course, made mistakes, but he made mistakes much less frequently than others, and by no means more irreparably.”

“He was a genius, the greatest organizer, seeker and discoverer of talent, endowed with the soul of an artist and the manners of a noble nobleman, the only fully developed person whom I could compare with Leonardo da Vinci” - this was the assessment received by S. P. Diaghilev from V. F. Nijinsky

Diaghilev’s activities and “Russian Seasons”

S.P. Diaghilev received a good musical education. While still in the student circle of A. N. Benois, he gained fame as a fan and connoisseur of music. D. V. Filosov recalled: “His interests then were mainly musical. Tchaikovsky and Borodin were his favorites. All day long he sat at the piano, singing Igor’s arias. He sang without much school, but with innate skill.” His musical mentors were called either A.K. Ledov or N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov. In any case, he received good training so as not to be an “outsider” in the composer’s environment; he felt the specifics of musical composition, he himself possessed the gift of composition, as evidenced by the surviving manuscripts of his youthful compositions, and he possessed musical theoretical knowledge.

In 1896 He graduated from the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University (he studied for some time at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov). He studied painting, theater, and the history of artistic styles. In 1897 he organized his first exhibition at the St. Petersburg Academy, dedicated to the works of English and German watercolorists. In the autumn of the same year he organized an exhibition of Scandinavian artists. Having acquired a strong reputation as an art connoisseur and a law degree, he received a position as assistant director of the Imperial Theaters.

In 1898 was one of the founders of the World of Art association; in 1899-1904, together with A. Benois, he was the editor of the magazine of the same name. His activities in promoting Russian art - painting, classical music, opera - S.P. Diaghilev began in 1906. In 1906-1907. organized exhibitions of Russian artists in Paris, Berlin, Monte Carlo, Venice, among whom were Benois, Dobuzhinsky, Larionov, Roerich, Vrubel and others.

The exhibition of Russian fine art was a revelation for the West, which did not suspect the existence of such a high artistic culture.

Supported by circles of the Russian artistic intelligentsia (“World of Art”, music Belyaevsky circle, etc.), in 1907 Diaghilev organized annual performances of Russian opera and ballet artists “Russian Seasons”, which began in Paris with historical concerts.

That year he organized 5 symphony concerts in Paris (“Historical Russian Concerts”), introducing Western Europe to the musical treasures of Russia, presenting Russian music from Glinka to Scriabin: S. V. Rachmaninov, A. K. Glazunov, F. I. Chaliapin, Rimsky-Korsakov, etc.

Russian musical and theatrical art began its victorious march across Europe on May 6, 1908, with the premieres of Russian operas: “Boris Godunov” by M. Mussorgsky, “The Woman of Pskov” by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, “Judith” by A. Serov, “Prince Igor” by A. Borodin. The part of B. Godunov was performed by F. I. Chaliapin. The audience was captivated by the unique timbre of Chaliapin's voice, his performance, full of tragedy and restrained strength.

The troupe selected by Diaghilev for foreign tours included A. Pavlova, V. Nijinsky, M. Mordkin, T. Karsavina, and later O. Spesivtseva, S. Lifar, J. Balanchine, M. Fokin. M. Fokin was appointed choreographer and artistic director. The performances were designed by artists: A. Benois, L. Bakst, A. Golovin, N. Roerich, and in later years M.V. Dobudzhinsky, M.F. Larionov, P. Picasso, A. Derain, M. Utrillo, J. Braque.

For the first time, the “world of art” ballet was presented not in Paris, but in St. Petersburg, at the Mariinsky Theater. These were ballets to the music of N. Cherepnin “Animated Tapestry” and “Pavilion of Armida” (designer A. N. Benois, choreographer M. M. Fokin). But there is no prophet in his own country. The new collided with the traditionally all-powerful Russian bureaucracy. Illiterate, hostile editors appeared in the press. In an atmosphere of outright persecution, artists and artists could not work. And then the happy idea of ​​“ballet export” was born. The ballet was exported abroad for the first time in 1909 on May 19, 1909. in Paris, at the Chatelet Theater, productions by M. Fokine were shown: “Polovtsian Dances” from op. A. Borodin, “Pavilion of Armida” on music. Tcherepnin, “La Sylphides” to music. F. Chopin, suite - divertissement “Celebration” to music. M.I. Glinka, P.I. Tchaikovsky, A. Glazunov, M.P. Mussorgsky.

Parisian chroniclers and critics called the Russian “surprise” a “revelation”, “revolution”, and the beginning of a new era in ballet.

Diaghilev, as an entrepreneur, counted on the preparedness of Parisians to perceive new art, but not only that. He foresaw the interest in the original Russian national essence of those works that he was going to “discover” in Paris. He said: “The entire post-Petrine Russian culture is cosmopolitan in appearance, and one must be a subtle and sensitive judge in order to note the precious elements of originality in it; you have to be a foreigner to understand Russian in Russian; they feel much more deeply where “we” begin, that is, they see what is most dear to them, and to which we are positively blind.”

For each performance, M. Fokin selected special means of expression. Costumes and decorations corresponded to the style of the era during which the action took place. Classical dance took on a certain color depending on developing events. Fokin wanted pantomime to be danceable, and dance to be mimically expressive. The dance in his performances carried a specific meaning. Fokin did a lot to update Russian ballet, but never abandoned classical dance, believing that only on its basis can a real choreographer, artist-dancer, choreographer, and artist-dancer be educated.

A consistent exponent of Fokine’s ideas was T. P. Karsavina (1885-1978). In her performance, the “world artists” especially appreciated the amazing ability to convey the beauty of the inner essence of images of the past, be it the mournful nymph Echo (“Narcissus and Echo”), or Armida, who came down from the tapestry (“Pavilion of Armida”). The ballerina embodied the theme of an alluring but elusive beautiful ideal in “The Firebird,” subordinating the development of this exotic image to the purely decorative, “picturesque” ideas of the new synthetic ballet.

Fokine's ballets could not have been more in line with the ideas and motives of the culture of the “Silver Age”. Most importantly, drawing new things from related muses, Fokine found equally new choreographic techniques that revealed the dance, advocating for its “naturalness.”

Since 1910, Russian seasons have been held without the participation of opera.

The best productions in 1910 There were “Scheherazade” to the music of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and the ballet-fairy tale “The Firebird” to music. I.F. Stravinsky.

In 1911 Diaghilev decided to create a permanent troupe, which was finally formed by 1913 and received the name “Russian Ballet” of Diaghilev, which existed until 1929.

The 1911 season began with performances in Monte Carlo (continued in Paris, Rome, London). Fokine's ballets were staged: “The Vision of a Rose” to music. Weber, "Narcissus" on music. Cherepnin, “The Underwater Kingdom” to the muses from the opera “Sadko” by N. A. Rimsky - Korsakov, “Swan Lake” (a shortened version with the participation of M. Kshesinskaya and V. Nijinsky).

The ballet “Petrushka” based on music was especially successful. I. Stravinsky, and the ballet was designed by A. Benois. A huge share of the success of this production belongs to the performer of the main role, the part of Petrushka, the brilliant Russian dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. This ballet became the pinnacle of Fokine’s choreographer’s creativity in the Diaghilev enterprise and marked the beginning of the world recognition of I.F. Stravinsky, the role of Petrushka became one of the best roles of V. Nijinsky. His refined technique and phenomenal jumps and flights have gone down in the history of choreography. However, this brilliant artist was attracted not only by his technique, but above all by his amazing ability to convey the inner world of his heroes with the help of plasticity. In the memoirs of his contemporaries, Nijinsky-Petrushka appears either as tossing about in impotent anger, or as a helpless doll, frozen on his fingertips with stiff hands pressed to his chest in rough mittens...

Diaghilev’s artistic policy changed; his enterprise no longer had the goal of promoting Russian art abroad, but became an enterprise that was largely oriented towards the interests of the public and commercial goals.

With the outbreak of World War I, the performances of the Russian Ballet were temporarily interrupted.

Season from 1915-16 The troupe toured Spain, Switzerland and the USA.

The troupe later staged the ballets “The Rite of Spring”, “The Wedding”, “Apollo Musagete”, “Leap of Steel”, “The Prodigal Son”, “Daphnis and Chloe”, “The Cat”, etc.

After the death of S.P. Diaghilev's troupe disbanded. In 1932 on the basis of the ballet troupes of the Monte Carlo Opera and the Russian Opera in Paris, created after the death of S.P. Diaghilev, organized by de Basile "Valle Russe de Monte Carlo".

Russian ballets became an integral part of the cultural life of Europe from 1900 to 1920 and had a significant influence on all spheres of art; Perhaps never before has Russian art had such a large-scale and profound influence on European culture as during the years of the “Russian Seasons”.

The works of Russian composers, the talent and skill of Russian performers, the scenery and costumes created by Russian artists - all this aroused the admiration of the foreign public, the musical and artistic community. In connection with the enormous success of the Parisian Russian season in 1909, A. Benois pointed out that the entire Russian culture, the entire peculiarity of Russian art, its conviction, freshness and spontaneity was a triumph in Paris.

Conclusion

Activities of the Russian Ballet troupe S.P. Diaghilev constituted an era in the history of ballet theater, which unfolded against the backdrop of the general decline of choreographic art.

The Russian Ballet, in fact, remained perhaps the only carrier of high performing culture and custodian of the heritage of the past.

For two decades, being at the center of the artistic life of the West, the Russian Ballet served as an impetus for the revival of this art form.

The reform activities of choreographers and artists of Diaghilev’s troupe influenced the further development of world ballet. J. Balanchine in 1933 moved to America and became a classic of American ballet, Serge Lifar headed the ballet troupe of the Paris Opera.

Handling millions and having the support of such creditors as Emperor Nicholas 1, entrepreneurs Eliseevs, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, etc., the owner of the famous “Pushkin collection”, he lived on credit and “died alone, in a hotel room, poor, as he had always been "

He is buried in the Saint Michel cemetery, next to Stravinsky's grave, at the expense of French philanthropists.

Bibliography

I. S. Zilbershtein / S. Diaghilev and Russian art

Maurois A. /Literary portraits. Moscow 1971

Nestiev I.V. / Diaghilev and the musical theater of the 20th century. − M., 1994;

Pozharskaya M.N. / Russian seasons in Paris. − M., 1988;

Rapatskaya L. A. / Art of the “Silver Age”. − M.: Enlightenment: “Vlados”, 1996;

Fedorovsky V. / Sergei Diaghilev or the Behind-the-scenes history of Russian ballet. − M.: Zksmo, 2003.

“Russian Seasons” is the name given to the annual foreign (in Paris, London, Berlin, Rome, Monte Carlo, USA and South America) tours of Russian artists, organized by the talented entrepreneur Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev, from 1907 to 1929. year

in the photo: Leon Bakst's sketch for Ida Rubinstein's costume in the ballet "Cleopatra". 1909

“Russian Seasons” by Sergei Diaghilev. art

Forerunner "Russian Seasons" was an exhibition of Russian artists at the Paris Autumn Salon, brought by Diaghilev in 1906. This was the first step of a 20-year journey of powerful and elegant propaganda of Russian art in Europe. In a few years, famous European ballerinas will take Russian pseudonyms just to dance in "Russian seasons" Sergei Dyagiev.

“Russian Seasons” by Sergei Diaghilev. Music

Further, in 1907, with the support of the imperial court of Russia and influential persons of France, Sergei Diaghilev organized five symphony concerts of Russian music at the Paris Grand Opera - the so-called "Historical Russian Concerts", where N.A. played his works. Rimsky-Korsakov, S.V. Rachmaninov, A.K. Glazunov and others, and Fyodor Chaliapin also sang.

Participants in the “Russian Historical Concerts”, Paris, 1907

“Russian Seasons” by Sergei Diaghilev. Opera

In 1908, as part of "Russian Seasons" The Russian opera Boris Godunov was presented to the Parisian public for the first time. But, despite its success, this genre of art is "Russian seasons" was present only until 1914. Having assessed the preferences of the public, the sensitive entrepreneur Sergei Diaghilev came to the conclusion that it was more profitable to stage the ballet, although he personally was dismissive of the ballet due to the lack of an intellectual component in it.

“Russian Seasons” by Sergei Diaghilev. Ballet

In 1909, Sergei Diaghilev begins preparations for the next "Russian season", planning to focus on the performance of Russian ballet. He was helped in this by artists A. Benois and L. Bakst, composer N. Cherepnin and others. Diaghilev and his team sought to achieve harmony of artistic concept and execution. By the way, the ballet troupe was made up of leading dancers of the Bolshoi (Moscow) and Mariinsky (St. Petersburg) theaters: Mikhail Fokin, Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Ida Rubinstein, Matilda Kshesinskaya, Vaslav Nijinsky and others. But preparations for the first ballet seasons were almost disrupted due to the spontaneous refusal of the Russian government to support "Russian Seasons" financially. The situation was saved by Diaghilev’s influential friends, who collected the required amount. Subsequently "Russian Seasons" will exist precisely thanks to the support of the patrons whom Sergei Diaghilev found.

Debut "Russian Seasons" in 1909 it consisted of five ballets: “Pavilion of Artemis”, “Polovtsian Dances”, “Feast”, “La Sylphide” and “Cleopatra”. And it was pure triumph! They were successful with the public as dancers - Nijinsky. Karsavin and Pavlov, as well as exquisite costumes by Bakst, Benois and Roerich, and music by Mussorgsky, Glinka, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and other composers.

Poster "Russian Seasons" in 1909. Depicted ballerina Anna Pavlova

"Russian Seasons" 1910 takes place at the Grand Opera House in Paris. The ballets “Orientalia”, “Carnival”, “Giselle”, “Scheherazade” and “Firebird” were added to the repertoire.

L. Bakst. Scenery for the ballet "Scheherazade"

Preparing for "Russian seasons" 1911 takes place in Monte Carlo, where performances will take place, including 5 new ballets by Fokine (“The Underwater Kingdom”), “Narcissus”, “The Phantom of the Rose”, “Petrushka” (to the music of Igor Stravinsky, who also became Diaghilev's discovery). Also in this "Season" Diaghilev staged Swan Lake in London. All ballets were a success .

Vaslav Nijinsky in the ballet "Scheherazade", 1910

Due to Diaghilev's innovative experiments "Russian Seasons" 1912 were received negatively by the Parisian public. The ballet “The Afternoon of a Faun” staged by V. Nijinsky became especially resonant; the audience booed it for “disgusting movements of erotic animality and gestures of grave shamelessness.” Diaghilev's ballets were received more favorably in London, Vienna, Budapest and Berlin.

The year 1913 was marked for "Russian Seasons" the formation of a permanent ballet troupe called "Russian ballet", which, however, was abandoned by M. Fokin, and later by V. Nijinsky .

Vaslav Nijinsky in the ballet "The Blue God", 1912

In 1914, the young dancer Leonide Massine became Diaghilev's new favorite. To work in "Russian seasons" Fokin returns. A Russian avant-garde artist takes part in preparing the scenery for the ballet “The Golden Cockerel”, and “The Golden Cockerel” becomes the most successful ballet of the season, as a result of which Goncharova was involved in the creation of new ballets more than once .

Anna Pavlova in the ballet "Pavilion of Artemis", 1909

During the First World War "Russian Seasons" Diaghilev perform with varying degrees of success, touring Europe, the USA and even South America. Many of the choreographic and musical innovations of its choreographers and composers frighten the public, but it happens that the same performance is perceived much better by the audience several years after the premiere.

Thus "Russian Seasons" exist until 1929. At different times, artists such as Andre Derain, Picasso, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro, Max Ernst and other artists, composers Jean Cocteau, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky, dancers Serge Lifar, Anton Dolin and Olga Spesivtseva have been working on their implementation. . And even Coco Chanel created costumes for the ballet Apollo Musagete, where Serge Lifar was the soloist.

Serge Lifar and Alicia Nikitina at a rehearsal of the ballet "Romeo and Juliet", 1926

Since it was Sergei Diaghilev who was the driving force "Russian Seasons", then after his death in August 1929 the troupe "Russian ballet" disintegrates. True, Leonid Massine creates the Russian Ballet in Monte Carlo - a troupe that continues the traditions of Diaghilev. And Serge Lifar remains in France, performing as a soloist at the Grand Opera, making an extraordinary contribution to the development of French ballet .

Olga Spesivtseva in the ballet "Kitty", 1927

Over the 20 years of hard work of the “Russian Seasons” and Diaghilev personally, the traditional attitude of society towards the art of theater and dance has changed dramatically, and Russian art has become extremely popular in Europe and throughout the Western world, generally influencing the artistic process of the twentieth century.