Speaking of Diaghilev

by John Drummond

Book Overview

Diaghilev was a prime mover in the strand of modernism in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, encouraging the extraordinary explosion of energy from artists such as Stravinsky, Debussy,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0571195490
• ISBN13: 9780571195497
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Length: 382 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating interviews with contemporaries of Diaghilev

How could any book about Diaghilev be boring? This was the man who brought Chaliapin in Boris Godunov to Paris then Pavlova, the man who originated more than 70 ballet productions with great performers like Nijinsky, great artists like Picasso, great composers like Stravinsky. John Drummond, who famously ran the Proms and the Edinburgh festival for many years, took on the project of filming a two part documentary about the great impresario in the 1960's but decided the interviews with his surviving co-workers were too good to waste and prints them in full. Every single one is a treasure trove for ballet fans. He bookends these interviews with, at the beginning, the full story of how he tracked down the living survivors of the Ballets Russe, and at the end a provocative and thought-provoking essay about the development of world ballet since Diaghilev's death , right up to Adventures in Motion pictures Swan Lake 1994. I read this book right through in two days, and I'm buying another copy to lend to friends. Absolutely superb, and some nice archive photos too.