I was recently on a four-day string quartet workshop course led by the Tedesca Quartet, something I do fairly regularly. In one of the breaks between playing, when we were all chatting, Nic Followfield and Richard Muncey (leader and viola, respectively) mentioned this 2010 biography of the 20th century’s most famous impresario which sparked my interest. It sounded fascinating and it is.
Of course, like anyone with a lifelong interest, and immersion, in classical music, I knew that Serge Diaghilev founded the Ballets Russes and worked closely with Stravinsky commissioning major, groundbreaking music such as The Firebird and The Rite of Spring. But there is a huge amount more about which I knew nothing until now.
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev was born into a noble family in 1872. His mother died soon after his birth but he became very close to his stepmother to whom he wrote dozens of letters which have survived – as have the diaries and memoirs of many of the people he worked with. Sjeng Scheijen, whose research is impeccably detailed, has been lucky in the wealth of source material available.
Diaghilev became an arts polymath. He was himself an accomplished musician who, in youth, had a stab at composition. It meant that he was knowledgeable enough to study the scores of the, often infuriated, composers he worked with and demand cuts or changes with led to a major row with Rimsky-Korsakov’s widow. And he worked to some extent with just about every composer of the day including Debussy, Prokofiev, Milhaud, and many more.
But early in his career he focused on the visual arts curating several major exhibitions at a time when he could coax sponsorship from prosperous nobles and travel freely into the rest of Europe. He was known for his ability to get things done – despite the fact that there were almost always money issues which would have daunted anyone else. He had phenomenal charisma and leadership qualities noted by almost everyone he ever worked with. And his determining passion was for the shock of the new although he wasn’t above staging a bit of Tchaikovsky when money was really tight.
Ballets Russes was founded in 1909 and lasted – despite World War One and the devastating upheaval of the revolutions and rapidly shifting politics in Russia – until the founder’s death in 1929. They performed all over Europe and in America, despite Diaghilev’s irrational fear of sea crossings. And the innovative work left in its wake a completely changed attitude to ballet, mime and musical theatre. What Diaghilev wanted was for his artistic revolution to be noticed. He was, apparently, delighted by the famous “outrage” (or was it?) at the premiere of The Rite of Spring in Paris in 1913.
And that brings us to Nijinsky who choregraphed it – an astonishing dancer with enormously powerful thighs who could almost leap over houses, according to Scheijen. It also brings us to Diaghilev’s sexuality which was inextricably bound up with his art and work. He was resolutely gay and adored young men of whom there was a succession in life including his cousin Dima, his constant companion when he was in his twenties. Scheijen thinks that some of these men may have been granting favours in exchange for professional opportunities – Leonide Massine, for example, was wont to visit brothels full of girls when Diaghilev wasn’t looking. And Nijinksy, with whom there had been a long affair, outraged and alienated Diaghilev by marrying a dancer he met on a trans-Atlantic crossing without telling him.
For many years Diaghilev lived in exile: mostly France with Ballets Russes based in Monaco. Tragically his brother was executed by the regime back home, three weeks after Serge’s death. Presumably, Scheijen observes, they knew that with the famous Diaghilev dead no one abroad would know be interested.
The Diaghilev, revealed by Scheijen, is a complex character. He can be kind, tender and gentle but also petulant and demanding. He adores his stepmother and worries constantly about his family, especially his two half bothers and their families who have alighted on the “wrong” side in the dangerous rifts in Russia. On the other hand he can be ruthless and dismissive if artistic standards are compromised. Nonetheless he often tries to make peace with people he has long since fallen out with especially if he now needs their services. He is indefatigably hard working. And there are unexpected things about him which made me chuckle in wonder. Apparently he liked Gilbert and Sullivan and attended several performances with Stravinsky in London. Most people loved him dearly as the reaction to his untimely (but not unexpected) death at age 57 shows clearly,
Because Diaghilev worked extensively with visual artists (Picasso painted many backdrops for Ballets Russes) the author has illustrated his biography with dozens of sketches by artists of the famous people Diaghilev and his entourage were working with.
Thanks Nic and Richard. You were right. This is indeed a book worth reading.
Next week on Susan’s Bookshelves: The Lumber Room and two other stories by Saki.
