‘Deliciously entertaining.’ Financial Times<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
‘Scintillating . . . fizzes with balletic energy.’ Daily Mail<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
‘Gripping . . . bursting with extraordinary characters and anecdotes.’ Sunday Telegraph<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
‘An extraordinary tale, enthrallingly told.’ <\/b>Gramophone<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n
Such was the credo of the ruthlessly manipulative and resourceful Serge Diaghilev – the Russian impresario who created the modern art form of ballet. Commissioning such legendary names as Nijinsky, Fokine, Stravinsky and Picasso, he produced a series of radically original works that had a revolutionary impact throughout the Western world. Off stage there was scandal and sensation, collaboration and competition, tempestuous affairs and a wild carousel of mayhem.<\/p>\n
The Ballet Russes left a matchless artistic legacy, ending with the abrupt death of Diaghilev in 1929. But the achievements of its heroic prime would continue to set the standards for the next era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Serge Diaghilev was the Russian impresario who is often said to have invented the modern art form of ballet. Commissioning such legendary names as Nijinsky, Fokine, Stravinsky, and Picasso, this intriguingly complex genius produced a series of radically original art works that had a revolutionary impact throughout the western world. Published to mark the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Diaghilev’s birth, Rupert Christiansen – leading critic and self-confessed ‘incurable balletomane’ – presents this freshly researched and challenging reassessment of a unique phenomenon, exploring passionate conflicts and outsize personalities in a story embracing triumph and disaster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[134],"product_tag":[24877],"class_list":["post-105854","product","type-product","status-publish","product_cat-hobbies-and-pastimes","product_tag-dance","pa_book_author-christiansen-rupert","pa_cover-paperback","pa_dewey-792-80947-edition23","pa_imprint-faber-faber","pa_language-english","pa_pages-8281","pa_publisher-faber-faber","pa_readership-general-trade-code-k","first","onbackorder","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"yoast_head":"\n