Editing Sergei Diaghilev (section)

==Ballets Russes==
{{Further|Ballets Russes}}

=== Concerts historiques russes ===
The success of the 1906 exhibition inspired Diaghilev to present Russian music to the world’s culture capitals such as Paris. In 1907, he organised ‘Concerts historiques russes’ with famous composers like [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]], [[Sergei Rachmaninoff]], [[Alexander Glazunov]], Feodor Chaliapin, and Félia Litvinne. The tour was supported and sponsored by Diaghilev’s royal patrons [[Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia]] and [[Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]]. In the spring of 1908, Diaghilev mounted a production of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, starring Feodor Chaliapin, at the Paris Opéra. [[Boris Anisfeld]] created the sets, designed by Bakst and Benois. To maximize authenticity, one of the artists [[Ivan Bilibin]] even travelled to [[Arkhangelsk Oblast]] to purchase the costumes.{{sfn|Varakina|2008|p=250—251}} The tour became a sensation and the success was overwhelming, however, financially, it was unprofitable and ended with a loss of 85,000 [[French franc|francs]].{{sfn|Scheijen|2009}}

=== Ballets Russes ===

By 1909, Diaghilev was at odds with [[Mathilde Kschessinska|Kschessinska]], and the Russian state treasury refused to finance the future tours. Sergei turned for help to his other friend, [[Misia Sert]]. Due to her efforts, the company ended up being able to rent the [[Théâtre du Châtelet]], which was less prestigious than the [[Palais Garnier]]. At that time, Diaghilev was rather skeptical about ballet; he said that ‘anyone with no special wit can enjoy it, there is no sense or subject in ballet’.{{sfn|Scheijen|2009}} [[Serge Lifar]] recalled that to the end of his days Diaghilev referred to the corps-de-ballet dancers as ‘a herd of cattle’.{{sfn|Lifar|2013}} Nevertheless, in 1909 the very first ballet Saison Russe took place and its success overwhelmed even the artists themselves. The first season included [[Le Pavillon d'Armide]], [[Polovtsian Dances]], [[Cléopâtre (ballet)|Nuit d’Egypte]], [[Les Sylphides]], and operas [[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]], [[The Maid of Pskov]] and the first part of the [[Ruslan and Lyudmila (opera)|Ruslan and Lyudmila]]. The ballets followed the operas and were performed after the second intermission. Leading dancers [[Vaslav Nijinsky]], [[Anna Pavlova]], [[Tamara Karsavina]], [[Ida Rubinstein]], [[Mikhail Mordkin]] immediately became world-known stars.{{According to whom|date=September 2022}} Diaghilev’s innovation was to synthesize dance, music and visual arts with set decorations and costumes into a single performance.{{sfn|Varakina|2008|p=248—252}}

During these years, Diaghilev's stagings included several compositions by the late Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, such as the operas ''[[The Maid of Pskov]]'', ''[[May Night]]'', and ''[[The Golden Cockerel]]''. His balletic adaptation of the orchestral suite ''[[Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)|Sheherazade]]'', staged in 1910, drew the ire of the composer's widow, [[Nadezhda Rimskaya-Korsakova]], who protested in open letters to Diaghilev published in the periodical ''Rech.'' Diaghilev commissioned ballet music from composers such as [[Nikolai Tcherepnin]] (''[[Narcisse et Echo]]'', 1911), [[Claude Debussy]] (''[[Jeux]]'', 1913), [[Maurice Ravel]] (''[[Daphnis et Chloé]]'', 1912), [[Erik Satie]] (''[[Parade (ballet)|Parade]]'', 1917), [[Manuel de Falla]] (''[[The Three-Cornered Hat|El Sombrero de Tres Picos]]'', 1917), [[Richard Strauss]] (''[[Josephslegende]]'', 1914), [[Sergei Prokofiev]] (''Ala and Lolli'', 1915, rejected by Diaghilev and turned into the ''[[Scythian Suite]]''; ''[[Chout]]'', 1915 revised 1920; ''[[Le pas d'acier (Prokofiev)|Le pas d'acier]]'', 1926; and [[The Prodigal Son (ballet)|''The Prodigal Son'']], 1929); [[Ottorino Respighi]] (''[[La Boutique fantasque]]'', 1919); [[Francis Poulenc]] (''[[Les biches]]'', 1923) and others. His [[Choreography|choreographer]] [[Michel Fokine]] often adapted the music for ballet. Diaghilev also worked with dancer and ballet master [[Léonide Massine]]. He played a decisive role in the career of Sergey Prokofiev.{{sfn|Press|2006|p=270}}{{sfn|Portnova|2011}}

The artistic director for the Ballets Russes was [[Léon Bakst]]. Together they developed a more complicated form of ballet with show-elements intended to appeal to the general public, rather than solely the aristocracy. The exotic appeal of the Ballets Russes had an effect on [[Fauvism|Fauvist]] painters and the nascent [[Art Deco]] style.{{sfn|Scheijen|2009}} [[Coco Chanel]] is said to have stated that "Diaghilev invented Russia for foreigners." [Rhonda K. Garelick].{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Perhaps Diaghilev's most notable composer-collaborator, however, was [[Igor Stravinsky]]. Diaghilev heard Stravinsky's early orchestral works ''[[Feu d'artifice|Fireworks]]'' and ''[[Scherzo fantastique]]'', and was impressed enough to ask Stravinsky to arrange some pieces by [[Frédéric Chopin|Chopin]] for the Ballets Russes. In 1910, he commissioned his first score from Stravinsky, ''[[The Firebird]]''. ''[[Petrushka (ballet)|Petrushka]]'' (1911) and ''[[The Rite of Spring]]'' (1913) followed shortly afterwards, and the two also worked together on ''[[Les noces]]'' (1923) and ''[[Pulcinella (ballet)|Pulcinella]]'' (1920) together with [[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]], who designed the costumes and the set.

=== Late years ===
After the [[Russian Revolution]] of 1917, Diaghilev stayed abroad. Once it became obvious that he could not be lured back, the new [[Soviet Union|Soviet regime]] condemned him in perpetuity as an especially insidious example of "bourgeois decadence". Soviet art historians wrote him out of the picture for more than 60 years.<ref>Clive James, ''Cultural Amnesia'' (W. W. Norton & Sons, 2007), p. 169.</ref>

Diaghilev made [[Boris Kochno]] his secretary in 1920 and staged [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]]'s ''[[The Sleeping Beauty (ballet)|The Sleeping Beauty]]'' in [[London]] in 1921; it was a production of remarkable magnificence in both settings and costumes, but, despite being well received by the public, it was a financial disaster for Diaghilev and [[Oswald Stoll]], the theatre-owner who had backed it. The first cast included the legendary ballerina [[Olga Spessivtseva]] and [[Lubov Egorova]] in the role of Aurora. Diaghilev insisted on calling the ballet ''The Sleeping Princess''. When asked why, he quipped, "Because I have no beauties!" The later years of the Ballets Russes were often considered too "intellectual", too "stylish" and seldom had the unconditional success of the first few seasons, although younger choreographers like [[George Balanchine]] hit their stride with the Ballets Russes.

The start of the 20th century brought a development in the handling of tonality, harmony, rhythm and meter towards more freedom. Until that time, rigid harmonic schemes had forced rhythmic patterns to stay fairly uncomplicated. Around the turn of the century, however, harmonic and metric devices became either more rigid, or much more unpredictable, and each approach had a liberating effect on rhythm, which also affected ballet. Diaghilev was a pioneer in adapting these new musical styles to modern ballet. When Ravel used a [[Quintuple meter|{{music|time|5|4}} time]] in the final part of his ballet ''[[Daphnis et Chloé|Daphnis and Chloe]]'' (1912), dancers of the Ballets Russes sang ''Ser-gei-dia-ghi-lev'' during rehearsals to keep the correct rhythm.{{cn|date=February 2023}}

Members of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes later went on to found ballet traditions in the United States (George Balanchine) and England ([[Ninette de Valois]] and [[Marie Rambert]]). Ballet master Serge Lifar went on a technical revival at the [[Paris Opera Ballet]], enhanced by [[Claude Bessy (dancer)|Claude Bessy]] and [[Rudolf Nureyev]] in the 1980s. Lifar is credited for saving many [[Jewish]] and other minority dancers from the [[Nazi concentration camps]] during [[World War II]]. After dancing with the Ballets Russes in 1925, [[Ruth Page (ballerina)|Ruth Page]] emerged as a founder of her own ballet troupes based in Chicago, including the [[Chicago Ballet|Chicago Opera Ballet]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.danceheritage.org/treasures/page_essay_meglin.pdf |title=Ruth Page: Early Architect of the American Ballet |author=Joellen A. Meglin |website=www.danceheritage.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913180211/http://www.danceheritage.org/treasures/page_essay_meglin.pdf |archive-date=13 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/09/obituaries/ruth-page-dancer-is-dead-at-92-proudly-american-choreographer.html |title=Ruth Page, Dancer, Is Dead at 92: Proudly American Choreographer |website=The New York Times |date=9 April 1991 |access-date=2 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.nypl.org/dan/19658 |title=New York Public Library Archives – Ruth Page Collection 1918–70 |location=New York Public Library for the Performing Arts – Jerome Robbins Dance Division |website=archives.nypl.org |access-date=2 March 2021}}</ref>