Riot repertoire series#
SCHWARTZ: That excerpt from "Parade" is from a 1954 recording conducted by a musician intimately connected to the "Ballets Russes," Igor Markevitch, who was the last in the series of Diaghilev's gifted young proteges and lovers. (SOUNDBITE OF IGOR MARKEVITCH'S PERFORMANCE OF SATIE'S "PARADE") It's probably now best remembered as the first theater piece with sets and costumes by Picasso. SCHWARTZ: I have a special fondness for the music to some "Ballets Russes" hits that are now almost entirely forgotten as dances, pieces like Erik Satie's witty "Parade" from 1917, with an orchestra that includes a train whistle and a typewriter. (SOUNDBITE OF ANDRE PREVIN AND LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE OF TCHAIKOVSKY'S "SWAN LAKE, OP 20") The recording in this set is by Andre Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra, with Ida Haendel playing the luscious violin solos. But the "Ballets Russes" production in London in 1911, with Nijinsky as the prince in love with the bewitched Swan Queen, was one of its earliest successful revivals. Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" was a failure at its premiere in 1877. But Diaghilev was also responsible for restoring some ballet classics. SCHWARTZ: The "Ballets Russes" is probably best remembered for being avant garde. (SOUNDBITE OF PIERRE MONTEUX PERFORMANCE OF STRAVINSKY'S "THE RITE OF SPRING") Monteux emphasizes the work's haunting beauty and rhythmic freshness, the seductive way the sounds of nature waking up morph into primitive ritual, de-emphasizing the mere violence that has become a cliche in so many contemporary performances. One of the most historic recordings in this set is the very first complete recording of "The Rite Of Spring," conducted by Pierre Monteux 16 years after he led the notorious premiere. Eliot's "The Wasteland" would become for 20th century poetry, a work that changed the entire direction of its art form. Important new works included Ravel's "Daphnis And Chloe" and Debussy's sexy and mysterious "Jeux" - games - which Nijinsky both danced in and choreographed as an erotic threesome pretending to be a tennis game.ĭiaghilev's single most important commission was undoubtedly Stravinsky's "Rite Of Spring," which is to 20th century classical music what, a decade later, T.S. Among the masterpieces were Stravinsky's first three major ballets - "Firebird," "Petrushka," and especially "The Rite of Spring," which, at its premiere in 1913, created the most notorious theatrical riot of the century.ĭiaghilev commissioned nearly a dozen works by Stravinsky, including the sublime "Apollo" and Prokofiev's "The Prodigal Son," two ballets choreographed by George Balanchine at the beginning of his career that are still widely performed nearly a century later. But maybe most astonishing and most lasting was the music Diaghilev commissioned - music first meant to be seen as well as heard. He had sets designed by Picasso and Matisse and costumes by no less a fashion icon than Coco Chanel. Diaghilev astonished audiences with legendary dancers like Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky and Nijinsky's sister, Bronislava. LLOYD SCHWARTZ, BYLINE: Astonish me, the legendary impresario Serge Diaghilev famously challenged the multifaceted writer-director Jean Cocteau, who was part of Diaghilev's astonishing inner circle. Here's Lloyd's review of a 22-disc set of almost all the music the Ballet Russe ever danced to. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz says these extraordinary collaborations of dancers, singers, choreographers, composers and designers transformed and revolutionized ballet. In 1909, the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev came to Paris with a company he called the Ballet Russe and created a sensation that lasted until Diaghilev's death 20 years later.
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