DYAGILEV Sergei Pavlovich

born March 19, 1872, Mr.. in Perm, in the Novgorod province in the high-born noble family. His father was a Major General of the tsarist army, was fond of singing. As a child, at the urging of the adoptive mother (his own mother died in childbirth) Diaghilev studied piano.
In 1890, Mr.. Diaghilev moved to St. Petersburg. Sergey joined the St. Petersburg University in the Faculty of Law. During his studies he made friends with a. Benoцўt L. Bakst, with whom he organized a small circle of art criticism. Along with attending university was a volunteer in the class singing the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and took composition lessons.
In 1896, Mr.. Diaghilev graduated with a diploma of lawyer.
After the crushing failure of his first production, Diaghilev rejected the composer's career, but decided to devote himself to art in another capacity. In 1899. Diaghilev, together with A. Benoit has established an elite magazine "World of Art" and became its editor, and at the same time entered the service of an official for special assignments in the Directorate of Imperial Theaters (before 1901). Major exhibition of Russian art, which he organized in 1905. in St. Petersburg, has further strengthened its reputation as a scholar and connoisseur of the avant-garde.
In 1906, Mr.. Diaghilev went to France. There, he organized an annual statement by the Russian artists abroad to promote the popularization of Russian art, which later went into history as the "Russian Seasons". First it was the exhibition of Russian art, then "Historical Russian Concerts" in a Parisian theater "Grand Opera" and performances of music by Russian composers. Real sensation was Mussorgsky's opera Khovanshchina "and" Boris Godunov "with F. Chaliapin in the role of King Boris. "Russian Seasons" existed in Paris and London until 1914.
In 1909, Mr.. Grand Prince Vladimir to Diaghilev commissioned to found a Russian ballet in Paris. Diaghilev brought together a creative team of the greatest artists in the early XX., And in 1911-13 he. on the basis of "Russian Seasons", he created a troupe of Russian Ballet of Diaghilev, "in which worked choreographers M. Fokin and L. Massine; composers Claude Debussy, M. Ravel and I. Stravinsky; Artists L. Bakst, A. Benoit, P. Picasso, A. Matisse, dancers from the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Bolshoi Theater A. Pavlova, IN. Nijinsky, M. Kshesinskaya, T. Karsavina.
And. Stravinsky recalled Diaghilev: "He defined the theme chosen composers, artists, choreographers, performers leading roles. He directed the rehearsals. Each statement of its originality reflects his personal complicity ".
Russian Ballet toured Europe, the United States and South America, seeking more and more success.
In the last years of his life, despite the continued success of productions, Diaghilev became impatient with the ballet, but felt himself responsible to the people with whom he worked, and could not leave this matter.
In 1929, Mr.. with Diaghilev on holiday in Venice, had a stroke, changed his coma, and 19 August the same year, the great impresario did not become.
Italian composer Casella testified in his memoirs: "He died alone in a hotel room, the poor as ever. He lived here in the loan without having to pay the hotel ". After his death, there could be no monetary savings, and he was buried in the rich resources of the French patron of the arts. His tomb, which is located next to the grave and. Stravinsky on the island, the cemetery of Saint-Michel, are still going to fans who leave there with red roses and worn ballet shoes, paying tribute to this man whose ideas have played such an important role in the creation of modern dance.