[Ballets Russes] Nijinsky, Waslaw. (1889-1950)
Original 1913 Monte Carlo Program
Original program from an April 13, 1913 performance of the Ballets Russes at the Theatre de Monte-Carlo. The cast included Nijinsky in Le Spectre de la Rose, Adolf Bohn in Cleopatre and Firebird, Lydia Kyasht as the Firebird, and Enrico Cecchetti, Alexander Gavrilov and Bronislava Nijinska, conducted by Pierre Monteux and Michel Steimann. 3 pp. with insert leaf containing the "Arguments" to the ballets. 7.25 x 11 inches (18.7 x 27.6 cm).Based on a poem by Théophile Gautier, and choreographed by Michel Fokine to the music of Carl Maria von Weber's piano work Aufforderung zum Tanz, Le Spectre de la Rose premiered in Monte Carlo on 19 April 1911 and was an immediate success. Particularly celebrated was Nijinsky's huge leap through one of two large windows at the back of the stage, behind which he was caught by four stagehands. This performance in Monte Carlo, featuring Spectre and several other favorite ballets, came shortly before a momentous Paris season for the Ballets Russes: in May 1913 they would premiere both Jeux and Le Sacre du Printemps. Shortly thereafter, Vaslav Nijinsky married Romola de Pulszky while on tour in Buenos Aires; Diaghilev fired him from the company in late 1913. (15024)
Program, unsigned Dance