Diaghilev, Cocteau - Picasso and Dance / Paris Opera Ballet
Between 1917 and 1962, Picasso was involved in creating the designs for nine ballets including Parade, Pulcinella and L'Après-midi d'un Faune, in collaboration with such artists as Jean Cocteau, Erik Satie, Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, Léonide Massine and Vaslav Nijinsky. Le Train Bleu dates from 1924 and Le Tricorne from 1919. These two historic ballets, created originally by Sergei Diaghilev, have been revived by the Paris Opera Ballet.  Le Train Bleu  (The Blue Train): Scenario by Jean Cocteau, Music by Darius Milhaud. Perlouse: Élisabeth Maurin, The Handsome Youth: Nicholas Le Riche, The Tennis Champion: Clotilde Vayer, The Golfer: Laurent Quéval. Le Train Bleu is an operetta dansé of a chic and flippant society. Jean Cocteau, who wrote the scenario, mockingly celebrates the cult of open air life, fine bodies and sport. The dances are inspired by golf, tennis, swimming and acrobatics.  Le Tricorne  (The Three-Cornered Hat): Libretto by Gregorio Martinez Sierra, Music by Manuel De Falla, Choreography by Léonide Massine, Stage Curtain, Sets & Costumes by Pablo Picasso. The Miller: Kader Belarbi, The Miller’s Wife: Françoise Legrée, Magistrate: Fabrice Bourgeois. Le Tricorne is Spanish from start to finish. Picasso, a native of Andalusia, created sets, costumes, and a stage curtain, which evokes the atmosphere of the ballet by means of a typically Spanish scene. The story, told with humour and warmth, is of a miller's wife, her jealous husband and a senile magistrate by whom she is pursued. An accompanying documentary, The Story of a Marriage, traces the story of Picasso's involvement with designs for ballet. Orchestre Des Concerts Lamoureux, Conducted By David Coleman.  Special Feature: Directed by Yvon Gerault, The Story Of A Marriage, A film by Didier Baussy-Oulianoff, produced and narrated by Robin Scott. With rare photographs and archive footage, this documentary traces the story of Picasso’s collaboration with, among others, Diaghilev, Cocteau and Massine, and of his designs for the ballet, from 1917 to 1924, inspired by his Russian wife, Olga Koklova. Program language English, with subtitles in English / French / German / Italian / Portuguese / Spanish / Japanese.