Composer, cosmopolite, cultural force, Nicolas Nabokov (1903-1978), the first cousin of Vladimir Nabokov (the author of Lolita), came to prominence in Paris in the late 1920s with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. He then emigrated to America, returning to Europe in postwar Germany and subsequently as head of the Congress Cultural Freedom, for which he organized groundbreaking festivals. A tireless promoter of international cultural exchange, he was also remarkable for the range of his friendships, from Balanchine to Stravinsky and from Auden to Oppenheimer.
Enjoy this rare selection of images, documenting those friendships, and an extraordinary life.
-
Lubcza, the house where Nabokov was born and spent a large part of his early childhood (Dominique Nabokov archives).
-
The Nabokov siblings’ string quartet: from Left to Right, Onya, Mitya, Mitya’s violin teacher, and Nicolas (Dominique Nabokov archives).
-
From Left to Right: Natalie Nabokov, Nabokov, Lina Prokofiev, and Serge Prokofiev, during their June 1930 gastronomic tour (photograph Felix von Bethmann-Hollweg).
-
Nabokov in 1946 with Charles Thayer (Right) and the head of programming at Voice of America (Dominique Nabokov archives).
-
Nabokov and Balanchine with Stravinsky and his wife, Hollywood, December 1947 (Dominique Nabokov archives).
-
Nabokov signing copies of Old Friends and New Music, New York, 1951. Behind him are Virgil Thomson (Left), Patricia Blake, and the painter Eugene Berman (Dominique Nabokov archives).
-
Nabokov with Artur Rubinstein and Vladimir Golschmann, Royaumont, mid-1950s (Ivan and Claude Nabokov archives).
-
Nabokov and Virgil Thomson in Thomson’s Chelsea Hotel apartment, New York, 1970 (photograph by Dominique Nabokov).
-
Nabokov with his cousin Vladimir, Montreux, 1975 (photograph by Dominique Nabokov).
Headline Image: Violin. CC0 via Pixabay
Recent Comments
There are currently no comments.