Diaghilev: A Life

Sjeng Scheijen

Profile Books, Aug 26, 2010 - Biography & Autobiography - 552 pages

This magnificent new biography of the extraordinary impresario of the arts and creator of the Ballets Russes 100 years ago draws on important new research, notably from Russia.

'Scheijen masterfully recounts the phenomenal way in which Diaghilev contrived, under virtually impossible circumstances, to nurture a sequence of works ... he triumphs in making clear the degree to which, despite the cosmopolitanism of so much of the work, Russia was at the core of Diaghilev' Simon Callow, Guardian

'It's a fabulous, complicated, very sexy story and Sjeng Scheijen takes us through it with a steadying calm that fudges none of the outrage on or off stage' Duncan Fallowell, Daily Express

'Magnificent ... filled with extraordinary glamour' Rupert Christiansen, Daily Mail

Contents

• Death in Venice: 1
• 1 A Big Head 18721880: 8
• 2 The Fruits of Enlightenment 18791890: 19
• 3 Rise and Fall 18901891: 33
• A Visit to Tolstoy 18911893: 41
• Alexandre Benois 18901894: 50
• St Petersburg Rome Genoa Paris 18941896: 62
• 7 Charlatan and Charmer 18951898: 73
• 8 Im full of big plans 18971898: 85
• 9 The World of Art 18981900: 97
• 10 The Sylvia Debacle 19001902: 111
• 11 The Hour of Reckoning 19021905: 124
• 12 The Homosexual Clique 19061907: 140
• 13 Tsar Boris and Tsar Sergey 19071908: 153
• 14 The Rise of the Ballets Russes 19081909: 170
• 15 Bakst and the Art of Seduction 19091910: 188
• 16 Emergence of a Genius 19101911: 206
• 17 Petrushka 19111912: 220
• 18 Prelude to a Scandal 19111912: 234
• 19 A Year of Risky Experiments 19121913: 251
• 20 Time of Troubles 19131914: 274
• 21 Let us be resolute and energetic 19141915: 294
• 22 A Parade of Revolutions 19151917: 309
• 23 A Letter from Nouvel 19171919: 333
• 24 To the Brink of Catastrophe 19191922: 351
• 25 A Lifeline from Monte Carlo 19221924: 374
• 26 The Soviet Union Strikes Back 19241927: 395
• 27 The Final Curtain 19281929: 418
• Notes: 445
• Bibliography: 505
• Illustration Credits: 518
• Authors Acknowledgements: 521
• Index: 522

About the author

The Dutch scholar Sjeng Scheijen is an internationally acclaimed expert on Russian art and has curated several important exhibitions in London, Groningen and elsewhere. He divides his time between Amsterdam and Moscow where he is cultural attaché at the Netherlands Embassy.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Diaghilev: A Life
• Author: Sjeng Scheijen
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Profile Books, 2010
• ISBN: 184765245X, 9781847652454
• Length: 552 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / General