Diaghilev, Sergei

Diaghilev, Sergei (1872–1929). Russian impresario, famous above all as the founder of the Ballets Russes, through which he exerted great influence on the visual arts as well as on dancing and music. He was born in Novgorod province, the son of an army officer, and became an accomplished pianist as a boy. From 1890 to 1896 he studied law in St Petersburg, where he became part of a circle of musicians, painters, and writers including Léon Bakst and Alexandre Benois. In 1899 he founded the magazine World of Art, with the object of interchanging artistic ideas with Western Europe. When it ceased publication in 1904 he concentrated for a while on organizing exhibitions, including one of Russian painting at the 1905 Salon d'Automne in Paris—the most comprehensive to have been seen in the West up to that time. It occupied twelve rooms in the Grand Palais, with decor designed by Bakst. In 1907 Diaghilev organized a series of concerts of Russian music in Paris, and in 1909 he brought a ballet company for the first time (this is usually described as the Ballets Russes, but the name was first used in 1911). The company was a sensational success, as much for the exotic designs of Bakst and Benois as for the music and choreography (the dancers included Nijinsky and Pavlova). Diaghilev, indeed, envisaged the visual spectacle as being just as important as the music and movement, and his designers were given great freedom to express themselves. In place of the tasteful backdrops, conventional costumes, and subdued lighting of traditional theatrical performances, they produced flamboyant and colourful designs that were an essential part of the experience of the work rather than mere embellishments.

Among the company's many triumphant performances there were also a few scandals, including perhaps the most celebrated fiasco in theatrical history—the opening night of The Rite of Spring (music by Stravinsky, choreography by Nijinsky, decor by Roerich) at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, on 29 May 1913, when a riot broke out in the audience between shocked conservatives and supporters of the avant-garde. For two decades, until his death in 1929, Diaghilev toured Europe and America with his ballet (he never returned to Russia after the 1917 Revolution and Paris remained the principal centre of his operations). He was often on the verge of bankruptcy, but he had a remarkable flair for spotting young talent and for integrating various interests and people, enabling him to bring together as his collaborators some of the foremost artistic personalities of his time; the painters who worked for him included Braque, de Chirico, Derain, Matisse, and Picasso. He preferred using painters rather than artists who had trained as stage designers, as he thought specialists were likely to be too tied to old ideas.