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Collection Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghilev

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L' Assemblée (suite of dances)
Music by Charles Gounod, Anatoly Liadov, Alexander Scriabin, Georges Auric, and Anton Rubinstein; choreography by George Balanchine and others; premiere on 7 March 1925, Nouvelle Salle de Musique, Monte Carlo. [This suite of dances incorporated numerous individual dances, including “Etude” (music by Scriabin and choreography by Balanchine) and “Valse Caprice” (choreography by Balanchine, after Serafima Astafieva). [This suite of dances incorporated numerous individual dances, including “Etude” (music by Scriabin and choreography by Balanchine) and “Valse Caprice” (choreography by Balanchine, after Serafima Astafieva).
NOTE: there are no documents in the collections pertaining to this.
L' Coq d'Or (opera)
Music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; libretto by Vladimir Belsky and Alexandre Benois, after Aleksandr Pushkin; sets and costumes by Natalia Goncharova; stage direction and choreography by Michel Fokine; premiere on 24 May 1914, Théâtre National de l’Opéra, Paris. [The opera was first produced in 1909 in Moscow.]
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La Boutique Fantasque (ballet in 1 act)
Music by Gioacchino Rossini, orchestrated by Ottorino Respighi; sets, costumes, and curtain by André Derain; choreography by Léonide Massine; premiere on 5 June 1919, Alhambra Theatre, London. One of the Ballets Russes’ most successful productions, La Boutique Fantasque was performed over 300 times between 1919 and 1929.
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La Chatte (ballet in 1 act)
Music by Henri Sauger; libretto by Sobeka [Boris Kochno], after an Aesop fable; sets and costumes by Naum Gabo and Anton Pevsner; choreography by George Balanchine; premiere on 30 April 1927, Théâtre de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo.
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La Colombe (opera)
Music by Charles Gounod, with new recitatives by Francis Poulenc; libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, after Jean de La Fontaine; sets and costumes by Juan Gris; stage direction by Constantin Landau; premiere on 1 January 1924, Théâtre de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo. [The opera was first produced in Baden-Baden in 1860.]
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La Pastorale (ballet)
Music by Georges Auric; libretto by Boris Kochno; sets, costumes, and curtain by Pedro Pruna; choreography by George Balanchine; premiere on 29 May 1926, Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt, Paris.
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La Tragédie de Salomé (ballet)
Music by Florent Schmitt; sets and costumes by Serge Soudeikine; choreography by Boris Romanov; premiere on 12 June 1913, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris.
NOTE: there are no documents in the collections pertaining to this.
Las Menias (ballet)
Music by Gabriel Fauré; libretto by Léonide Massine; sets by Carlo Socrate; costumes by José-María Sert; choreography by Léonide Massine; premiere on 25 August 1916, Teatro Eugenia-Victoria, San Sebastian.
NOTE: there are no documents in the collections pertaining to this.
Le Astuzie Femminili (opéra-ballet in 2 acts)
Music by Domenico Cimaroso, orchestrated with added vocal recitatives by Ottorino Respighi; sets, costumes, and curtain by José-María Sert; choreography by Léonide Massine; premiere on 27 May 1920, Théâtre National de l’Opéra, Paris. The final act was extracted into a divertissement called Cimarosiana, with an added pas de quatre by Bronislava Nijinska, and presented on 8 January 1924.
Programme Officiel, Théatre de Monte-Carlo [program for 1923-1924 season]
Le Bal (ballet in 2 tableaux)
Music by Vittorio Rieti; libretto by Boris Kochno, after Count Vladimir Sologub; sets and costumes by Giorgio de’Chirico; choreography by George Balanchine; premiere on 7 May 1929, Théâtre de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo.
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Le Bal du 'Lac des Cygnes' (suite of dances from Swan Lake)
Music by Petr Ilich Tchaikovsky; costumes by Aleksandr Golovin; choreography by Marius Petipa; premiere on 11 March 1925, Nouvelle Salle de Musique, Monte Carlo. [This suite of dances was comprised of the divertissements from act 3 of Swan Lake as well as other dances from the ballet. Swan Lake was produced by Diaghilev in 1911 as a two-act version of the 1909 Bolshoi production. Diaghilev revived the work again in two acts in 1923.] [This suite of dances was comprised of the divertissements from act 3 of Swan Lake as well as other dances from the ballet. Swan Lake was produced by Diaghilev in 1911 as a two-act version of the 1909 Bolshoi production. Diaghilev revived the work again in two acts in 1923.]
NOTE: there are no documents in the collections pertaining to this.
Le Carnaval (ballet in one act)
Music by Robert Schumann, orchestrated by Anton Arensky, Aleksandr Glazunov, Anatol Liadov, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai Tcherepnin; libretto by Léon Bakst and Michel Fokine; sets and costumes by Léon Bakst; choreography by Michel Fokine; premiere on 20 May 1910, Theater des Westens, Berlin.
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Le Chant du Rossignol (ballet in 1 act)
Music by Igor Stravinsky; sets, costumes, and curtain by Henri Matisse; choreography by Léonide Massine; premiere on 2 February 1920, Théâtre National de l’Opéra, Paris. Adapted from Stravinsky’s opera Le Rossignol, which was produced by Diaghilev in 1914. See Le Rossignol, 1914. The one-act ballet was eventually restaged with new choreography by George Balanchine in 1925.
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Le Festin (suite of dances)
Music by Aleksandr Glazunov, Mikhail Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Petr Ilich Tchaikovsky; sets by Konstantin Korovin; costumes by Leon Bakst, Alexandre Benois, Ivan Bilibin, Konstantin Korovin; pre-existing choreography by Marius Petipa, with arrangements and new choreography by Michel Fokine, Aleksandr Gorsky, Nikolai Golts, and Feliks Kshessinsky; premiere on 18 May 1909, Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris. [This divertissement, a pastiche of dances from many ballets, was performed again—often with a different combination of dances—in 1910; 1912; 1914; 1918; and 1920. It was remounted in 1925. See Le Festin, 1925]
Bronislava Nijinska remembered the “Grand Pas Classique Hongrois,” from the ballet Raymonda, which concluded the premiere performance of Le Festin. “The triumphant furor at the end of the performance was so great, there are not adequate words to describe the enthusiasm of the audience.”
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Le Festin (suite of dances)
Music by Aleksandr Glazunov, Anton Arensky, Modest Mussorgsky, Erik Satie, Léo Delibes, and Nikolas Tcherepnin; choreography by George Balanchine, Michel Fokine, and others; premiere 18 February 1925, Nouvelle Salle de Musique, Monte Carlo. [This divertissement, a pastiche of dances from many ballets, premiered in 1909. It was performed during the seasons of 1910; 1912; 1914; 1918; and 1920—often with different combinations of dances. See Le Festin, 1909.]
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Le Pas d'Acier (ballet in 2 tableaux)
Music by Sergei Prokofiev; libretto by Sergei Prokofiev and Georgi Takulov; sets and costumes by Georgi Yakulov; choreography by Léonide Massine; premiere on 7 June 1927, Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt, Paris.
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Le Pavillon d'Armide (ballet in one act and three tableaux)
Music by Nikolai Tcherepnin; libretto by Alexandre Benois (based on Théophile Gautier's Omphale); sets and costumes by Alexandre Benois; choreography by Michel Fokine; premiere on 19 May 1909, Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris.
Bronislava Nijinska was attending a rehearsal of Le Pavillon d'Armide in November 1908 when she first set eyes on Serge Diaghilev. "He was an imposing figure: tall, rather heavy, impeccably dressed, carrying a walking cane and holding his hat in his left hand….The expression on his face was at once menacing and attractive—like a bulldog's, initially discouraging all friendly overtures. Looking at him, I felt that it would not be easy to become friends with Sergei Pavlovitch [Serge Diaghilev]."
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Le Renard (ballet with songs)
Music by Igor Stravinsky; sets and costumes by Mikhail Larionov; choreography by Bronislava Nijinska; premiere on 18 May 1922, Théâtre National de l’Opéra, Paris. [The work was restaged in 1929 with choreography by Serge Lifar.]
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Le Rossignol (opera)
Music by Igor Stravinsky; libretto by Igor Stravinsky and Stepan Mitusov, after Hans Christian Andersen; sets and costumes by Alexandre Benois; choreography by Boris Romanov; stage direction by Alexandre Benois and Alexander Sanin; premiere on 26 May 1914, Théâtre National de l’Opéra, Paris. [In 1914, Diaghilev produced a one-act ballet adapted from the opera with sets, costumes, and curtain by Henri Matisse and choreography by Léonide Massine. It was restaged in 1925 with choreography by George Balanchine.]
NOTE: there are no documents in the collections pertaining to this.
Le Soleil de Nuit (retitled Midnight Sun in 1918) (ballet)
Music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; sets and costumes by Mikhail Larionov; choreography by Léonide Massine; premiere on 20 December 1915, Grand Théâtre, Geneva.
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Le Tricorne (ballet in 1 act)
Music by Manuel de Falla; sets, costumes, and curtain; Pablo Picasso; choreography by Léonide Massine; premiere on 22 July 1919, Alhambra Theatre, London.
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Les Contes de Fées (suite of dances)
Music by Petr Ilich Tchaikovsky; costumes by Natalia Goncharova; choreography by Marius Petipa and Bronislava Nijinska; premiere on 25 February 1925, Nouvelle Salle de Musique, Monte Carlo. [This suite of dances consisted of the fairy tales from act 3 of The Sleeping Princess, originally produced in 1921.]
NOTE: there are no documents in the collections pertaining to this.
Les Femmes de Bonne Humeur (The Good-Humoured Ladies) (ballet in 1 act)
Music by Domenico Scarlatti, orchestrated by Vincenzo Tommasini; libretto after Carlo Goldoni; sets and costumes by Léon Bakst; choreography by Léonide Massine; premiere 12 April 1917, Teatro Costanzi, Rome.
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Les Fils Prodigue (Prodigal Son) (ballet in 3 tableaux)
Music by Sergei Prokofiev; libretto by Boris Kochno, after a parable in the gospel according to Luke; sets and costumes by Georges Rouault; choreography by George Balanchine; premiere on 21 May 1929, Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt, Paris.
NOTE: there are no documents in the collections pertaining to this.
Les Matelots (ballet in 5 tableaux)
Music by Georges Auric; libretto by Boris Kochno; sets, costumes, and curtain by Pedro Pruna; choreography by Léonide Massine; premiere on 17 June 1925, Théâtre de la Gaîté-Lyrique, Paris.
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Les Orientales (choreographic divertissement)
Music by Anton Arensky, Aleksandr Borodin, Aleksandr Glazunov, Christian Sinding, and Edvard Grieg, with orchestration by Igor Stravinsky; sets by Konstantin Korovin; costumes by Konstantin Korovin and Léon Bakst; choreography by Michel Fokine; premiere on 25 June 1910, Théâtre National de l’Opéra, Paris.
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Les Sylphides (ballet; "Romantic reverie" in one act)
Music by Frédéric Chopin, orchestrated by Aleksandr Glazunov, Igor Stravinsky, and Sergei Taneyev; sets and costumes by Alexandre Benois; choreography by Michel Fokine; premiere on 2 June 1909, Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris. [A prior version of the work was produced in 1907 as Chopiniana.]
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