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Diaghilev: A Life

Diaghilev: A Life

by S.J. Leinbach (Translator), Jane Hedley-Prôle (Translator), Sjeng Scheijen (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2009

    $3.25
Synopsis

Diaghilev (1872-1929) is a character on the scale of myth. Growing up in a minor noble family in remote Perm, as a very young man he became an influential art historian and publisher in St Petersburg. Moving soon onto a bigger stage, he became a central figure in the artistic worlds of Paris, London, Rome, Berlin and Madrid during the golden age of modern art. He lived through bankruptcy, war, revolution and exile. Furthermore he lived openly as a homosexual and his liaisons, most famously with Nijinsky, and his turbulent friendships with among others Stravinsky, Coco Chanel, Misia Sert, Prokoviev and Jean Cocteau give his life an exceptionally dramatic quality. The last biography was thirty years ago. Scheijen's biography is based on extensive research in little known archives, especially in Russia, is revelatory and brings a complex and powerful personality with boundless creative energy fully to life.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 560
 Edition: Main
 Publisher: Profile Books
Published: 15 Oct 2009
ISBN 10: 1846681413
ISBN 13: 9781846681417
Book Overview: A major new biography of Serge Diaghilev, founder of the Ballets Russes, who revolutionised ballet, bringing together composers like Stravinsky and Prokoviev, dancers and choreographers like Nijinsky and Balanchine and artists like Picasso, Matisse, Bakst and Goncharova. An impresario of all the arts, he made a huge contribution to the arts of the twentieth century.

Media Reviews
Superb biography...the definitive life of Diaghilev -- Bee Wilson * Sunday Times *
An important new biography...Scheijen begins at the end, with a magnificent meditation on his subject's death in Venice...Drawing on a great deal of new research...Scheijen puts Diaghilev into a different frame to any of his previous biographers...He debunks many of the myths...Scheijen masterfully recounts the phenomenal way in which Diaghilev contrived, under virtually impossible circumstances, to nurture a sequence of works...Where Scheijen triumphs is 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 *
Reading this biography is as stimulating as plugging yourself into the national grid -- Frances Wilson * Sunday Times Best Biographies of 2009 *
Magnificent...filled with extraordinary glamour -- Rupert Christiansen * Mail on Sunday *
Scheijen's portrait is drawn with a sharp nib -- Luke Jennings * Observer *
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 *
a revelation...a remarkable achievement -- Andrew Green * Classical Music Magazine *
A joy to handle and a lucid pleasure to read -- David Nice * BBC Music Magazine *
Compelling -- Clement Crisp * Dancing Times *
the clarity of his narrative, and his return to original sources, makes you realize anew just how extraordinary Diaghilev's achievement was -- Sarah Crompton * Daily Telegraph *
[an] eloquent tribute -- Marc O'Sullivan * Irish Examiner *
Sjeng Scheijen's new book about Diaghilev is absolutely wonderful. It is filled with the most fascinating information and is a completely intriguing read...[an] exceptional book -- Monica Mason, Artistic Director of The Royal Ballet
Sjeng Scheijen's Diaghilev: A Life is the first biography to do justice to one of the twentieth century's most remarkable personalities -- Lynn Garafola, Professor of Dance, Barnard
Scheijen's book turned out to be an absolute revelation. From the moment I picked it up I couldn't put it down. For two days, almost continuously, I read and marvelled at the wealth of new information the author had managed to collect -- Rudi van Dantzig, Artistic Director at the Dutch National Ballet 1971-1991
Immensely readable...A Life is terrific - a must for anyone intrigued by the Ballets Russes -- Anna Hogan * Times Higher Education *
Author Bio
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 attache at the Netherlands Embassy.