Diaghilev, Le Sacre, and much more!

[Ouled Nails]

The 29th of May, tomorrow, marks the scandalous world premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in Paris, in 1913. I have little to add to the story of this "debacle" except that some of the confusion pertaining to what Camille Saint-Saens did or did not do stems from the fact that he attended both the world premiere (in the same box as Pierre Monteux's mother) and another representation a year later (the famous anecdote about the oboe). Far more revealing, in my opinion, is the extraordinary large number of world premieres -- both as ballets and as music composed for the ballet -- generated by Serge Diaghilev's famous Ballets Russes. In fact, the ballet of Debussy's Prelude to the afternoon of a faun was premiered on the same date one year earlier and most of these world premieres occurred around the same period every year, when the Diaghilev "season" began.

Perhaps the incredible attraction Diaghilev's quest for bold new artistic initiatives exercised on both choreographers and composers best explains why some of these first performances proved controversial. He totally transformed a ballet world primarily intended for and attended by the haute société ("snobs," according to some contemporary commentators) into an audience far more representative of the cultural intelligentsia. Little wonder, then, that this crowd could become very rowdy, combative even, when the "snobs" clashed with the painters, composers, reporters, etc., who came expecting something completely innovative and different.

Unless otherwise indicated with [ ], the ballets listed below only comprise those first performed by the Ballets Russes. I hope the dates and locations of these world premieres are all accurate.
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Serge Diaghilev: a chronology of world premieres

5/19/09: Polovtsian Dances (Borodin/Fokine), Paris.
5/19/1909: Le Pavillon d’Armide (Tcherepnin/Fokine), Paris.
[6/2/1909: Cleopatra (Arensky et.al./Fokine), Paris.] Originally created as Les Nuits d’Egypte, by Fokine, in 1908.
6/2/09: Les Sylphides (Chopin/Fokine), Paris.

3/5/1910: Carnaval (R. Schumann/Fokine), St. Petersburg.
6/4/1910: Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov/Fokine), Paris.
6/25/10: The Firebird (Stravinsky/Fokine), Paris.

4/19/1911: Le Spectre de la rose (Weber/Fokine), Monte Carlo.
4/26/1911: Narcisse (Tcherepnin/Fokine), Monte Carlo.
6/6/1911: Sadko (Rimsky-Korsakov/Fokine), Paris.
6/13/1911: Petrushka (Stravinsky/Fokine), Paris.

5/13/1912: Le Dieu bleu (Reynaldo Hahn/Fokine), Paris.
5/20/1912: Thamar (Balakirev/Fokine), Paris.
5/29/1912: Prelude to the afternoon of a faun (Debussy/Nijinsky), Paris.
6/8/1912: Daphnis et Chloe (Ravel/Fokine), Paris.

5/15/1913: Jeux (Debussy/Nijinsky), Paris.
5/29/1913: The Rite of Spring (Stravinsky/Nijinsky), Paris.
6/5/1913: Khovanshchina (Mussorgsky, with Stravinsky and Ravel/Bohm), Paris.
6/12/1913: The Tragedy of Salome (Schmitt/Romanov), Paris.

5/14/1914: The Legend of Joseph (R. Strauss/Fokine), Paris.
[5/16/1914: Papillons (Robert Schumann and Tcherepnin/Fokine), first performed in St. Petersburg in March 1912.]
5/24/1914: Le Coq d’Or (Rimsky-Korsakov/Fokine), Paris.
6/2/1914: Midas (M. Steinberg/Fokine), Paris.

12/20/1915: Midnight Sun, from Snegurochka (Rimsky-Korsakov/Massine), Geneva.

8/21/1916: Las Meninas (Faure/Massine), Spain.
8/25/1916: Kikimora (English and French court music/Massine) Spain.
10/23/1916: Till Eulenspiegel (Strauss/Nijinsky), New York.

4/12/1917: Le Donne di Buon Umore (Scarlatti/Massine) Rome.
5/11/1917: Les Contes russes (Liadov/Massine), Paris.
5/18/1917: Parade (Satie/Massine), Paris.

6/5/1919: La Boutique fantasque (Rossini and Respighi/Massine), London.
7/22/1919: El Sombrero de tres picos (Falla/Massine), London.

2/2/1920: Song of the Nightingale (Stravinsky/Massine), Paris.
5/15/1920: Pulcinella (Stravinsky/Massine), Paris.
5/27/1920: Astuzie femminili (Cimarosa/Massine), Paris.

5/17/1921: Chout (Prokofiev/Slavinsky), Paris.

5/18/1922: Renard (Stravinsky/Nijinska), Paris.

4/19/1923: “Danses russes” ( unknown ), Monte Carlo.
6/13/1923: Les Noces (Stravinsky/Nijinska), Paris.

1/3/1924: Les Tentations de la bergere (Monteclair/Nijinska), Monte Carlo.
1/6/1924: Les Biches (The House Party) (Poulenc/Nijinska), Monte Carlo.
1/8/1924: Ballet de l’astuce feminine ( unknown /Massine), Monte Carlo
1/19/1924: The Tormentors (Auric/Nijinska), Monte Carlo.
4/13/1924: A Night on the Bald Mountain (Mussorgsky/Nijinska), Monte Carlo.
6/20/1924: Le Train bleu (Milhaud/Nijinska), London.

1/31/1925: Zephyr et Flore (Dukelsky/Massine), Paris.
6/17/1925: The Sailors (Auric/Massine), Paris.
12/11/1925: Barabau (Rieti/Balanchine), London.

5/4/1926: Romeo and Juliet (Constant Lambert/Nijinska), Monte Carlo.
5/29/1926: La Pastorale (Auric/Massine), Paris.
6/8/1926: Jack in the Box (Satie and Milhaud/Balanchine), Paris.
12/3/1926: The Triumph of Neptune (Lord Berners/Balanchine), London.

5/30/1927: La Chatte (Sauguet/Balanchine), Monte Carlo.
6/7/1927: Le Pas d’Acier (The Steel Step) (Prokofiev/Massine), Paris.

June 1928: Ode (Nabokov/Massine), Paris.
6/12/1928: Apollo (Stravinsky/Balanchine), Paris.
7/16/1928: The Gods Go A-Begging (Handel and Beecham/Balanchine), London.

5/7/1929: Le Bal (Rieti/Balanchine), Monte Carlo.
5/21/1929: The Prodigal Son (Prokofiev/Balanchine), Paris.

8/19/1929: Death of Serge Pavlovich Diaghilev in Venice.

 

[methodistgirl]

Yeah. I'm glad someone had the time to type it all up.
judy tooley

 

[Ouled Nails]

I'll try to be diplomatic, "methodistgirl." Judging from the number of posts we both have, you have typed much more than I have. Obviously, you've got the time...

 

[Contratrombone64]

Be gentle with miss judy Ouled! she out ranks us in so many special ways!

 

[rojo]

Erm, let's get back on topic, shall we?

Woooow, look at all those major, big-time works and big-name composers! So many of my favourites are listed there. What a fantastic post, ON. Thank you.

Gosh, I'm so in the dark about some things. Either that or my memory is failing me; what famous oboe anecdote? And what did Saint-Saens do or not do?

I guess composers from that era who would want a 'hit' would be hard pressed to find a more fortuitous day for a premier of their work than May 29th, it seems. Even if they wouldn't know it at the time. :grin:

 

[Ouled Nails]

Be gentle with miss judy Ouled! she out ranks us in so many special ways!

Courtesy is the desirable attribute on all fora and it applies to every member. There is no hierarchy or rank, as far as I am concerned, only people who are either courteous or, failing that, refrain from passing "no comment" when they don't have anything constructive to say. I posted this message in the classical music forum, expecting someone who knows classical music to comment (or not), but not expecting someone who don't to do so. (And, frankly, anybody can get thousands of posts.....

 

[Contratrombone64]

yes and back on topic, sorry. I like your post Ouled, Le Sacre is certainly tame by today's standards but still one of my absolutely most favoutie pieces of music (alongside Daphnis et Chloe).

Diaghilev certainly was amazing, I'll have to research him a lot more seemingly, thanks.