The Eurasian Peoples' Assembly and the Russian House in Rome celebrated the 150th Anniversary of Sergei Diaghilev

A set of activities dedicated to the great Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev opened with speeches by experts from Russia, Italy, Monaco, Scandinavia and Switzerland during a round table entitled “Sergei Diaghilev. The first representative of the cultural diplomacy of Russia.

The organizers are the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly and the Peace and Harmony Social Initiatives Foundation.

“Thanks to the activities of Sergei Diaghilev as a philanthropist, producer, entrepreneur, Europe learned about Russian culture in all its splendor - this is cultural diplomacy. Diaghilev spent five seasons in Italy, of which four seasons of the "Ballets Russes” took place on the stage of the Rome Opera House. We have tried to bring together experts in order to cover as widely as possible various aspects of the influence of this great Russian impresario on Italy and world culture,” - commented Daria Pushkova, Director of the Russian House in Rome.

This round table in Rome is the third. During the year, the organizers have already held similar conferences in Uzbekistan (the Russian House in Tashkent) and in France (the Russian office of UNESCO in Paris). Chairman of the Council for International Cultural Cooperation of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly Elmira Shcherbakova emphasized that little is known about certain aspects of Diaghilev's activities:

“Diaghilev, for example, also revealed to Europe the oriental flavor of the Russian Empire – this manifested itself, in particular, in the costumes for his productions. Unfortunately, not everyone knows about it, there is not much information, so such events are very important.”

In three halls of the Russian House in Rome there are expositions of paintings by students of Diaghilev Lyceum from Yekaterinburg (winners of the competition among children from 6 to 16 years old), students of the Art Academy of St. Petersburg in Florence, as well as archival materials provided by the Rome Opera House - rare photographs, clippings from Italian newspapers of the early twentieth century, cartoons and even copies drawings of costumes for Diaghilev's ballets taken from original drawings by Pablo Picasso.

The event ended with a program of Russian romances performed by soprano, soloist of the Vienna Opera House (2019-2020) Diana Nurmukhamedova and pianist, winner of international competitions Elena Gurina. The music of Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Glinka sounded under the arches of the Russian House.