Diaghilev's Empire

An audiobook created by a well-known critic and passionate ballet fan is not only a tribute to Sergey Diaghilev, the outstanding impresario and one of the key figures of the Silver Age. By skillfully combining reliable evidence with a artistic narrative style, the author paints a vivid and convincing picture of the era.

At the center is the story of the legendary impresario company that overturned ideas about dance and became a sign of cultural change. And alongside Diaghilev stands an entire constellation of talents: artists, choreographers, dancers, composers, and impresarios. Stravinsky and Benois, Picasso and Nijinsky, Pavlova and Karsavina, Fokin and Bakst—these are only part of the people whose fates and interactions help show the drama, contradictions, and complexity of relationships inside the world that made Russian ballet famous on the international stage even in anxious years. “Diaghilev’s Empire” appears not just as a chronicle of successes, but also as a reflection on how Russian ballet influenced world culture.

This audiobook will be of interest to anyone fascinated by the history of art and musical theater.