The Nightingale Collaboration
Even though they were contemporaries, Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) and Henri Matisse (1869–1954) are rarely regarded together. In 1925, however, the two collaborated on a project for the Ballets Russes on a ballet version of Stravinsky’s first opera, The Nightingale, which was given its premiere in Paris on 26 May 1914. The discrepancy between the first act, written in 1908 and still very much by a student of Rimsky-Korsakov, and the second and third acts, written in 1913 and 1914, was a problem.
Pablo Picasso: Igor Stravinsky, 1920 (Paris: Picasso Museum)
Sabine Devieilhe as The Nightingale, 2023 (Paris: Théâtre des Champs-Elysées)
The story comes from Hans Christian Andersen, where a Chinese Emperor is given a live nightingale, which has a song so sweet that hearers weep with its beauty. Emissaries from Japan give the Emperor a mechanical nightingale that delights him. The real nightingale returns to the forest, insulted. Death comes for the Emperor, and the nightingale returns and charms Death. In return for singing for Death, he must return to the Emperor his crown, sword, and standard. Death agrees, and the Emperor comes back to life. The Emperor discards his mechanical bird, and the live bird agrees to sing nightly for the Emperor.
The poème symphonique called Chant du Rossignol also dates from 1914 as a way for Stravinsky to respond to some of Diaghilev’s criticism of the opera. Stravinsky dumped the 1908 first act material and only used the music from Acts II and III for a piece in four movements.
Without the context of opera, the Chinese elements in the work, including pentatonic scales and other exoticisms, would be difficult for the audience to understand. When the poème symphonique received its premiere on 6 December 1919, with Ernst Ansermet leading the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. It was heavily criticised for its dissonance.
Still attempting to rescue the work, Stravinsky turned it into a ballet, written in the early months of 1917 but not staged until after WWI.
The ballet received its premiere on 2 February 1920 with choreography by Leonid Massine and designed by Henri Matisse.
Henri Matisse (seated) and Léonide Massine shown with the mechanical nightingale, 1920
Matisse’s drawings for the production put the Chinese elements to the fore.
Matisse: Costumes for the dancers
Matisse: Costumes for the dancers and the Emperor (Gallica: btv1b7002923m)
Warrior’s costume (Gallica: btv1b7002916g)
Serge Leonovich Grigoriev (1883–1968) was the regisseur of the Ballets Russes from 1909 through the 1920s, and then, after the disbanding of the company with Diaghilev’s death in 1929, joined Colonel de Basil’s Ballet Russe in 1932, remaining with that company until 1948. The position of regisseur is critical to any company – functions as not only the director and the stage manager but also the choreographic reference point, and company memory. His phenomenal memory is what made Diaghilev’s ballets live on through the decades.
The Library of Congress holds Serge Leonovich Grigoriev’s photo album with examples of sets and costumes for Pulcinella, Les Femmes de Bonne Humeur, Petrouchka, Zéphire et Flore, Mavra, Le Renard, Les Biches, Les Fâcheux, and Barabau and photographs of Pulcinella, Le Chant du Rossignol, and Les Matelots.
Although they are in black and white, we can get a feeling for Matisse’s designs. Dancing the role of the Nightingale was Tamara Platonovna Karsavina, one of the leading ballerinas in the Russian Imperial Ballet, who was frequently invited to dance with Diaghilev’s company. Her most famous role was that of The Firebird in Stravinsky’s ballet for Diaghilev.
Image 7 (Library of Congress, Serge Grigoriev’s photo album/scrapbook, https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/ihas.200156317)
Image 8 (Library of Congress, Serge Grigoriev’s photo album/scrapbook, https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/ihas.200156317)
Image 9 (Library of Congress, Serge Grigoriev’s photo album/scrapbook, https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/ihas.200156317)
Image 10 with Tamara Karsavina as The Nightingale (Library of Congress, Serge Grigoriev’s photo album/scrapbook, https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/ihas.200156317)
Image 11 with Tamara Karsavina (Library of Congress, Serge Grigoriev’s photo album/scrapbook, https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/ihas.200156317)
Image 12 (Library of Congress, Serge Grigoriev’s photo album/scrapbook, https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/ihas.200156317)
There is one photograph of the stage with Matisse’s decorations and costumes.
Henri Manuel: Photograph of the stage, designs by Matisse, 1920 (Gallica: btv1b7002909b)
The dilemma for Stravinsky was that he thought the music was best heard in the concert hall, where it receives a focused hearing, rather than on the ballet stage, where the dancers also compete for attention.
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