Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Note
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1872, Mar. 31 | Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev is born in Novgorod province, Russia, the only child of Pavel Pavlovich Diaghilev and Evgeniia Nikolaevna Essipova; Diaghilev's mother died as a result of the birth. Both of his parents were from old gentry landowner families. Pavel Pavlovich, a soldier in the Chevaliers Gardes in the service of the tsar, is transferred to St. Petersburg shortly afterwards |
| 1874 | Pavel Pavlovich Diaghilev marries Elena Valerianovna Panaeva, of whom Serge Diaghilev was very fond. Elena was from a musical family and was distantly related to Pëtr Il'ich Tchaikovsky. Through these family connections, Diaghilev is afforded the opportunity as a youth to meet many musicians and composers, among them Tchaikovsky (whom the young Diaghilev referred to as "Uncle Petia") and Modest Musorgsky |
| 1882 | Pavel Pavlovich is transferred to the provincial Russian town of Perm. They move into the family estate at nearby Bikbarda, which soon becomes an unofficial town cultural center |
| 1890 | Serge Diaghilev enters the university at St. Petersburg to study law, for which he has little enthusiasm. His interest and effort seem to be channeled into music, for he soon begins lessons in singing and composition. After a short period of study with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who advises him to reconsider a career in composition, Diaghilev begins to turn his attention more and more to art history and criticism |
| 1891 | Serge Diaghilev's first European trip takes him to Berlin, Paris, Rome, Venice, Florence and Vienna. The cultural life which he encounters in these cities has a profound effect on his developing artistic sensibility |
| 1895-1896 | During subsequent trips Diaghilev begins to purchase paintings which form the basis of a noteworthy collection. His first articles about contemporary art and painters are published. After six years at the university (in a customarily four-year program), Diaghilev completes his law degree |
| 1899 | Establishment of a series of ambitious art exhibitions, which meet with tremendous acclaim. Establishment of the review Mir Iskusstva (The World of Art), which includes writings on art, music and literature, as well as highly original graphics material. Appointed assistant to the Director of the Imperial Theaters; he resigns after a dispute with management in 1901 |
| 1903 | The World of Art ceases publication due to disagreements and dissatisfaction on the part of contributors to the magazine |
| 1905 | "The Exhibition of Historical Russian Portraits," comprising over three thousand works, was organized by Diaghilev; the project takes three years and innumerable trips throughout Russia to complete. The Exhibition is held at the Tauride Palace (Tavricheskiĭ dvorets) in St. Petersburg and meets with an immense success. Similar exhibitions were organized the following year in Paris, Berlin and Venice. Serge Lifar is born in Kiev |
| 1907 | First series of Russian music concerts organized in Paris |
| 1908 | Concerts are expanded to include opera and ballet; opera productions include the first performances outside Russia of Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko and Musorgsky's Boris Godunov, the latter achieving almost instantaneous worldwide popularity, and having a significant musical influence on French composers, including Debussy and Ravel |
| 1909, May 19 | First appearance of the Ballet Russe in Paris. Its immense success led to a resurgence of the ballet as an art form, especially in France and in Russia, as well as to the development of the field of ballet criticism |
| 1910, June 25 | Première of Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird, commissioned by Diaghilev for the Ballet Russe; this was the first of twelve works resulting from the collaboration between Diaghilev and Stravinsky |
| 1911 | The Ballet Russe is established at Monte Carlo |
| 1912 | Non-Russian artists become more frequently involved in the Ballet Russe productions: commissions are given to artists such as Debussy, Ravel, Hahn and Cocteau |
| 1913, May 29 | Première of the groundbreaking Le Sacre de printemps of Stravinsky (choreo-graphed by Nijinsky) which causes an unprecedented and legendary scandal |
| 1917 | Collaboration with Pablo Picasso, who designs sets and costumes for Satie's Parade |
| 1923 | Meeting with Serge Lifar at Monte Carlo, who, upon the recommendation of his teacher Bronislava Nijinska, was contracted to enter the Ballet Russe. By commissioning Stravinsky's Pulcinella, based on works of the eighteenth century masters Cimarosa, Scarlatti and Pergolesi, Serge Diaghilev influences the rise of neoclassicism in twentieth-century music |
| 1925 | Lifar has a principal role in the Ballet Russe production of Dukelsky's Zéphyr et Flore |
| 1929, Aug. 19 | Serge Diaghilev dies in Venice from complications resulting from diabetes. Lifar assumes the management of the Paris Opéra Ballet, a position which he holds (excluding the years 1944 through 1946, when he directs the Nouveau Ballet de Monte-Carlo) until 1959. During his tenure there he creates many new ballets, writes several books (including a biography of Diaghilev) and establishes new dance institutions. For his contributions to the art of ballet he is awarded the French Légion d'Honneur |
| 1986 | Serge Lifar dies |