Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
First transmitted in 1968. Presented by Peter Ustinov, this episode focuses on Russian impresario Diaghilev’s early life and the first seasons of his legendary ballet company Ballets Russes from 1909 until the outbreak of war in 1914. Friends and colleagues, including Cecil Beaton and prima ballerina Tamara Karsavina, reveal what Diaghilev meant to them and the impact he had on both ballet and the artists he commissioned.
First transmitted in 1968. Presented by Peter Ustinov, this episode focuses on Russian impresario Diaghilev’s early life and the first seasons of his legendary ballet company Ballets Russes from 1909 until the outbreak of war in 1914. Friends and colleagues, including Cecil Beaton and prima ballerina Tamara Karsavina, reveal what Diaghilev meant to them and the impact he had on both ballet and the artists he commissioned.
