Russian seasons in London and Paris. Diaghilev's Russian seasons are more than art

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 absolutely unexpected word in the art of ballet, and ballet culture seems to have been waiting for him 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 came to them 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 artistic association“World of Art”, editor of the magazines “World of Art” and “Yearbook of Imperial Theaters”, organizer of art exhibitions, theater figure, a person close to both ballet circles and the circle of artists and composers, Diaghilev by that time had managed to organize not only one exhibition of works by Russian artists, representatives of that new Russian art, which would later be called art Silver Age, art of the modern 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 Marine Choir took part Bolshoi Theater. 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 went to recess with the opera. 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.

Success ballet performances was so deafening 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 thirst for finding 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, 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, and “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 leading role Nijinsky spoke. This part became one of the peaks in the artist’s work.

Since 1912, Diaghilev's troupe began touring around 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 wonderful pages in the history of the ballet theater, and Diaghilev, thanks to his activities in it, was rightfully called later “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 with their high artistic level, they sparkled outstanding talents, which Diaghilev knew how to find and 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 Russians 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. Classical school I chewed myself 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.

Russian seasons of Sergei Diaghilev

110 years ago, the “Russian Seasons” of Sergei Diaghilev, the first producer of our country, 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

"Damn it, I'm not really ordinary person"

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 took place in St. Petersburg. Then, due to financial difficulties, the family moved to Perm, where in the 1880s the Diaghilev house became 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 visited Europe, where he attended the opera for the first time and was delighted 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 plans young man: Rimsky-Korsakov called his works “absurd.” And although Diaghilev, offended, promised that he would hear about him again, that was it. serious relationship The music was over.

Scenery by Leon Bakst for the ballet "Scheherazade" to the music of 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 man, fourthly, a man with a large number logic and a small number 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 is writing critical articles about art and organizes an exhibition. And in 1898, when Diaghilev was 26, the first issue of the World of Art magazine was published, which the future impresario would edit himself for several years.
A year later, Sergei Pavlovich’s career is taking off rapidly: director Imperial theaters Prince Sergei Volkonsky appoints him 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 most bright star of the Russian ballet of that time, seeing Diaghilev in the box, she sang under her breath: “Now I found out // That there is a shensheel in the 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 of them was 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 was thinking of entering 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 new world- to himself,” his contemporary Francis Steigmuller wrote about him. Sergei Pavlovich really showed the world Russia - the way 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 others 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.

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.

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.

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 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 nurtured.

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.

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 a rare flair for an entrepreneur and a rare flair for 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 activity, in classical ballet There was a 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 an entire era, school 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 her youth with Diaghilev in ballet parts, and in 1922 she 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 of modern French, Austrian, Italian composers, this also could not but have an impact on the choreography, on 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.

Let's figure out what the famous “Russian ballet” is. After all, if for the domestic consciousness it is “ Swan Lake” in the enthusiastic perception of foreigners, then for the rest of the world - 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” speaks not of reproducing the unshakable classics, but of spectacularly going beyond the limits classical culture in the first third of the twentieth century. Russian ballet is what it is art 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 image, which is not quite familiar 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 perfectly in keeping 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 purely European country. However, her image, introduced by Diaghilev into the consciousness of Europeans, turned out to be paradoxically non-European. WITH light hand 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 brought 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 from the previous pathetic name to a new prosaic, unique one - to 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 they were born here and tested for strength advanced ideas in the field of music, 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 by 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 modernist composer school, from which the group “Six” (“Les six”) emerged - by analogy with the Russian “Five”, as in France they call “ A mighty bunch" But it was Diaghilev who managed to combine all this at home. Almost merchant savvy, 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 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 room for next project. Before the war, this process - changing 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 him, Fokine, stylish, beautiful, clever essays turned out to be plastically tongue-tied " Afternoon rest 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 new era, and “unnaturalness” and “archaic poses” are not “false,” but new expressive means. 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 radicals French composers- the circle of that 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 artistic process unprecedented intensity, since all three were very 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 the ballet on 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 something new for him bright name- Balanchine - and almost immediately lets you put it on.

The most significant artistic destiny, which most influenced the path of world art - both ballet and music - was waiting for 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, completely devoid of literary plot and built according to the laws of music. He created a brilliant ballet school on empty space- 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, on a more deep level was the result of listening in 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" are annual theatrical performances of Russian opera and ballet at the beginning of the 20th century in Paris (since 1906), London (since 1912) and other cities in Europe and the USA. "Seasons" were organized by Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev (1872-1929).

S.P. Diaghilev - Russian theater figure, entrepreneur. In 1896, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, while simultaneously studying at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the class of Rimsky-Korsakov. Diaghilev knew painting, theater, and the history of artistic styles very well. In 1898, he became one of the organizers of the World of Art group, as well as the editor of the magazine of the same name, which, as in other areas of culture, led the struggle against “academic routine” for new means of expression new art of modernity. In 1906-1907, Diaghilev organized exhibitions of Russian artists, as well as performances by Russian artists, in Berlin, Paris, Monte Carlo, and Venice.

In 1906, Diaghilev's first Russian season took place. Western Europe, in Paris. He began working at the Salon d'Automne to organize a Russian exhibition, which was supposed to present Russian painting and sculpture over two centuries. In addition, Diaghilev added a collection of icons to it. Special attention at this exhibition was devoted to a group of artists from the “World of Art” (Benoit, Borisov-Musatov, Vrubel, Bakst, Grabar, Dobuzhinsky, Korovin, Larionov, Malyutin, Roerich, Somov, Serov, Sudeikin) and others. The exhibition opened under the chairmanship of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, the exhibition committee was headed by Count I. Tolstoy. Diaghilev released, for greater accessibility, a catalog of the Russian art exhibition in Paris with an introductory article Alexandra Benois about Russian art. The exhibition at the Autumn Salon was an unprecedented success - it was then that Diaghilev began to think about other Russian seasons in Paris. For example, about the season of Russian music. He gave a test concert, and its success determined the plans for the next year, 1907. Returning to St. Petersburg in triumph, Diaghilev began preparing the second Russian season. Its famous Historical concerts. For this purpose, a committee was created under the chairmanship of A.S. Taneyev - chamberlain of the highest court and a well-known composer. The best musical forces were involved in these concerts: Arthur Nikisch (an incomparable interpreter of Tchaikovsky), Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov, Glazunov and others conducted. F. Chaliapin's world fame began with these concerts. "Historical Russian Concerts" were composed of works by Russian composers and performed by Russian artists and the Bolshoi Theater choir. The program was carefully designed and composed of masterpieces of Russian music: "Seasons" presented the Russian opera "Boris Godunov" with the participation of Chaliapin in Paris. The opera was staged in the edition of Rimsky-Korsakov and in luxurious scenery by the artists Golovin, Benois, Bilibin. The program included the overture and first act of Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila, symphonic scenes from Rimsky-Korsakov's The Night Before Christmas and The Snow Maiden, as well as parts from Sadko and Tsar Saltan. Of course, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Taneyev, Scriabin, Balakirev, Cui were represented. After the stunning success of Mussorgsky and Chaliapin, Diaghilev next year is taking “Boris Godunov” with the participation of Chaliapin to Paris. Parisians have discovered something new Russian miracle- Chaliapin's Boris Godunov. Diaghilev said that this performance was simply impossible to describe. Paris was shocked. Public Grand Opera, always prim, this time she screamed, knocked, and cried.

And again Diaghilev returns to St. Petersburg to begin work on preparing the new “Season”. This time he had to show Russian ballet to Paris. At first everything went easily and brilliantly. Diaghilev received a large subsidy, he enjoyed the highest patronage, he received the Hermitage Theater for rehearsals. An informal committee met almost every evening in Diaghilev’s own apartment, where the program for the Paris season was developed. Among the St. Petersburg dancers, a young, “revolutionary” group was selected - M. Fokin, an excellent dancer who was beginning his career as a choreographer at that time, Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina and, of course, the brilliant Kshesinskaya, Bolm, Monakhov and a very young, but making a statement as the “eighth wonder of the world” Nijinsky. The prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater Coralli was invited from Moscow. It seemed that everything was going so well. But... Died Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, and besides, Diaghilev offended Kshesinskaya, to whom he was primarily obliged to receive the subsidy. He offended her because he wanted to resume Giselle for Anna Pavlova, and offered the magnificent Kshesinskaya a small role in the ballet Armida's Pavilion. There was a stormy explanation, “during which the ‘interlocutors’ threw things at each other...”. Diaghilev lost his subsidies and patronage. But that was not all - the Hermitage, the scenery and costumes of the Mariinsky Theater were taken away from him. Court intrigues began. (Only two years later he would make peace with the ballerina Kshesinskaya and remain with her for the rest of his life good relationship.) Everyone already believed that there would be no Russian season in 1909. But it was necessary to have Diaghilev’s indestructible energy in order to rise again from the ashes. Help (almost salvation) came from Paris, from socialite and Diaghilev's friend Sert - she organized a subscription in Paris with her friends and collected the necessary funds so that she could rent the Chatelet theater. Work began again and the Repertoire was finally approved. These were "Pavilion of Armida" by Cherepnin, "Polovtsian Dances" from "Prince Igor" by Borodin, "Feast" to the music of Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Glinka and Glazunov, "Cleopatra" by Arensky, the first act of "Ruslan and Lyudmila" in scenery ARTISTS of the "World of Art" group. Fokine, Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova and T. Karsavina were the main figures of Diaghilev's Russian Ballet project. This is what Karsavina said about Diaghilev:

“As a young man, he already possessed that sense of perfection, which is, undoubtedly, the property of a genius. He knew how to distinguish in art the transitory truth from the eternal truth. For all the time that I knew him, he was never mistaken in his judgments, and the artists had absolute faith in his opinion." Diaghilev's pride was Nijinsky - he only graduated from college in 1908 and entered the Mariinsky Theater, and immediately they started talking about him as a miracle. They talked about his extraordinary jumps and flights, calling him a bird-man. "Nijinsky, - recalls the artist and friend of Diaghilev S. Lifar, - he gave all of himself to Diaghilev, in his careful and loving hands, into his will - either because he instinctively felt that in no one’s hands he would be so safe and no one was able to form his dancing genius like Diaghilev, or because, infinitely soft and completely devoid of will, he was unable to resist someone else's will. His fate was entirely and exclusively in the hands of Diaghilev, especially after the story with Mariinsky Theater at the beginning of 1911, when he was forced to resign because of Diaghilev." Nijinsky was a rare dancer, and only a dancer. Diaghilev believed that he could also be a choreographer. However, in this role Nijinsky was unbearable - rehearsals with him ballet dancers perceived and remembered it as terrible torment, because Nijinsky could not clearly express what he wanted. In 1913, Diaghilev released Nijinsky into the world, on an American journey. And there, indeed, poor Nijinsky almost died, completely submitting to someone else’s will. But. this was already a woman, Romola Pulska, who married Nijinsky, and also drew him into the Tolstoyan sect. All this accelerated the process. mental illness dancer But this will still only happen. In the meantime, at the end of April 1909, the Russian “barbarians” finally arrive in Paris and frantic work begins before the next “Russian Season”. The problems that Diaghilev had to overcome were darkness. Firstly, high society Paris, seeing the Russians ballet dancers at a dinner in their honor, he was greatly disappointed by their external dullness and provincialism, which raised doubts about their art. Secondly, the Chatelet theater itself - official, gray and boring - was not at all suitable as a “frame” for Russian beautiful performances. Diaghilev even rebuilt the stage, removed five rows of the stalls and replaced them with boxes, covered with columnar velvet. And amid all this incredible construction noise, Fokin conducted rehearsals, straining his voice to shout above all the noise. And Diaghilev was literally torn between artists and musicians, ballet dancers and workers, between visitors and critic-interviewers, who increasingly published materials about Russian ballet and Diaghilev himself.

On May 19, 1909, the first ballet performance took place. It was a holiday. It was a miracle. One French grande dame recalled that it was “a sacred fire and a sacred delirium that engulfed the entire auditorium.” Before the public there was truly something never seen before, unlike anything else, incomparable to anything. A very special beautiful world , which none of the Parisian spectators even suspected. This "delirium", this passion lasted six weeks. Ballet performances alternated with opera performances. Diaghilev spoke about this time: “We all live like those enchanted in the gardens of Armida. The very air surrounding Russian ballets is full of dope.” The famous Frenchman Jean Cocteau wrote: “A red curtain rises over the holidays that turned France upside down and which carried the crowd into ecstasy following the chariot of Dionysus.” Russian ballet was accepted by Paris immediately. Accepted as a great artistic revelation that created an entire era in art. Karsavina, Pavlova and Nijinsky sang real hymns. They instantly became the favorites of Paris. Karsavina, the critic said, “looks like a dancing flame, in the light and shadows of which languid bliss dwells.” But the Russian ballet charmed everyone because it was an ensemble and because the corps de ballet played a great role in it. In addition, the painting of the scenery, and the costumes - everything was significant, everything created an artistic ensemble. There was less talk about the choreography of Russian ballet - it was simply difficult to understand right away. But all holidays come to an end. The Parisian one is also over. It was, of course, a worldwide success, as Russian artists received invitations to different countries of the world. Karsavina and Pavlova were invited to London and America, Fokine - to Italy and America. Diaghilev, having returned to St. Petersburg, began preparations for the new season, in which it was imperative to consolidate success. And Diaghilev, who has a fantastic instinct for talent, knew that the new Russian miracle next season would be Igor Stravinsky, with his ballets, in particular “The Firebird”. "A man predetermined by fate entered his life." And from now on, the fate of the Russian Ballet will be inseparable from this name - with Stravinsky. In the spring of 1910, Paris was again shocked by Diaghilev's ballet and opera. The program was simply amazing. Diaghilev brought five new works, including a ballet by Stravinsky. These were luxurious ballets, this was a new attitude to dance, to music, to the painting of the performance. The French realized that they needed to learn from the Russians. But the triumph of this season also dealt a blow to Diaghilev’s troupe - some artists signed foreign contracts, and Anna Pavlova left Diaghilev back in 1909. Diaghilev decided in 1911 to organize a permanent ballet troupe, which was formed in 1913 and was called the Russian Ballet of Sergei Diaghilev. Over the twenty years of the existence of the Russian Ballet, Diaghilev staged eight ballets by Stravinsky. In 1909, Anna Pavlova left the ballet troupe, followed by others. The permanent ballet troupe begins to be replenished with foreign dancers, which, naturally, loses its national character.

The ballet repertoire of the "Seasons" included "Pavilion of Armida" by Tcherepnin, "Scheherazade" by Rimsky-Korsakov, "Giselle" by Tchaikovsky, "Petrushka", "Firebird", "The Rite of Spring" by Stravinsky, "Cleopatra" ("Egyptian Nights") by Arensky , “The Vision of a Rose” by Weber, “The Legend of Joseph” by R. Strauss, “The Afternoon of a Faun” by Debussy and others. For this touring troupe, Diaghilev invited M. Fokin as choreographer and a group of leading soloists of the Mariinsky and Bolysh theaters, as well as artists from the private opera S.I. Zimin - A. Pavlov, V. Nijinsky, T. Karsavin, E. Geltser, M. Mordkin, V. Coralli and others. In addition to Paris, Diaghilev's ballet troupe toured in London, Rome, Berlin, Monte Carlo, and American cities. These performances have always been a triumph of Russian ballet art. They contributed to the revival of ballet in a number of European countries and had a huge influence on many artists.

Tours were carried out, as a rule, immediately after the end of the winter theater season. In Paris, performances took place at the Grand Opera (1908, 1910, 1914), Chatelet (1909, 1911, 1912), and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (1913).

No less prestigious theaters hosted the troupe in London. These were the Covent Garden Theater (1912), Drury Lane (1913, 1914).

After the outbreak of the First World War, Diaghilev transferred his enterprise to the USA. Until 1917, his ballet troupe performed in New York. In 1917 the troupe disbanded. Most dancers remained in the USA. Diaghilev returns to Europe and, together with E. Cecchetti, creates a new troupe in which, along with Russian emigrant actors, foreign dancers perform under fictitious Russian names. The troupe existed until 1929. Diaghilev, with his delicate taste, brilliant erudition, enormous plans, the most interesting projects, all his life he was the soul of his brainchild "Russian Ballet", he was in artistic search, an ever-boiling creator. But in 1927, in addition to ballet, he had a new hobby that fascinated him - books. It grew rapidly, acquiring Diaghilev proportions. He intended to create a huge Russian book depository in Europe. He made grandiose plans, but death stopped him. Diaghilev died on August 19, 1929. He and his “Russian Seasons” remained a unique and brightest page in the history of world and Russian culture.