Diaghilev

Imperial Theaters

Diaghilev brought the members of Mir iskusstva with him to the Imperial theatres. Apollinary Vasnetsov, Alexandre Benois, Léon Bakst, Valentin Serov, Eugene Lansere and other contemporary artists began working on decorations and costumes. In 1900, Prince Serge Wolkonsky entrusted Diaghilev with the staging of Léo Delibes' ballet Sylvia, a favorite of Benois. The two collaborators concocted an elaborate production plan that startled the established personnel of the Imperial Theatres. After several increasingly antagonistic differences of opinion, Diaghilev refused to go on editing the Annual of the Imperial Theatres and was discharged by Volkonsky in 1901. However, the scandal also ruined Wolkonsky's career; in a week, he was similarly fired. By that time, even the Emperor, persuaded by Kschessinska, took Diaghilev's side. Sergei didn't think much of a civil servant career, so he went abroad and immersed in his other plans.