Li Galli Archipelago. About Nuriev's will and greedy heirs Close ties with the world of ballet helped the owner organize dance events. One summer season, the Houston Dominic Walsh Theater Company gave ballet performances on the terrace overlooking
The Li Galli archipelago is a fabulous corner of Italy, where even time slows down. The largest island is simply called “Nuriyev Island” - in honor of its former owner, stars ballet by Rudolf Nureyev. Recently, luxury villas on the island can be rented.
Li Galli – a fabulous retreat
Nuriyev Island is a small rocky island that does not have luxurious forests and fields, legendary cathedrals and palaces. But there is an azure clear sea, the water of which amazes with its richness of colors, and three beautiful villas surrounded by a magnificent garden. A huge tower rises above the rocky shore. And, most importantly, here you can enjoy solitude, which is so difficult to find in the modern hectic world.
A special mystical atmosphere reigns on Nuriev Island. If you believe the legends, sweet-voiced sirens used to live nearby. Having failed to seduce the cunning Odysseus, the cruel sirens could not endure such humiliation. They drowned themselves, and their beautiful bodies turned into the rocky islands of Li Galli.
Today, when seafarers are no longer threatened by sirens, you can calmly admire the splendor of the islands. But to moor there you need a special invitation - the Li Galli islands have long been private property.
Owners Li Galli
Li Galli - luxurious gardens and elegant villa
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Li Galli islands belonged to the Russian choreographer Leonid Massine. Thanks to the first owner, luxurious gardens and an elegant villa appeared on the archipelago.
In the 80s, the islands were acquired by the famous dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who completed the design of Massine's villa and began construction of a second, no less beautiful one. Nureyev loved to visit Lee Galli and dreamed of creating the most prestigious ballet school there. The largest island of the archipelago is still named after the dancer.
Li Galli's third owner, Sorrento hotel magnate Giovanni Russo, bought the islands at the end of 1994. He also inherited Nureyev's magnificent collection of works of art and rare furniture, which Rousseau sold at record prices, leaving only a few masterpieces for himself. Rousseau completely completed both villas and erected another one.
Earlier this year, Rousseau put the islands up for sale.
Nureyev Island – exclusive luxury
Lee Galli for rent
Nureyev Island has three magnificent villas with a wonderful view of the sea from the windows, a watchtower, a helipad, a cozy garden on the rocky coast, a small water purification plant and a vegetable garden where organic products are grown.
The interior of the villas amazes with their aesthetic decoration and functionality. Many unusual details are used here, for example, a saddle adapted for a table. The frames of the huge mirrors are decorated with shells and coral bouquets. Antique vases adorn the bookcases. Four reception rooms, decorated with special chic, will allow you to organize an unforgettable evening with friends.
On the island stars Nureyev's classical dance center has three swimming pools and a small spa center.
Li Galli has everything you need for a wonderful holiday in an atmosphere of peace and privacy. If you are tired of noisy resorts, Nuriev Island is at your service. After staying here, you will gain strength and look at the world with new eyes.
The island, located off the Amalfi coast, opposite the resort town of Positano, is called “Nureyev Island”. In fact, the geographical name is completely different - “Li Galli Archipelago”. Why an archipelago, because there is not one, but three islands! They are just very small and located close to each other. And they are located in such a way that from land they look like one island. It is noteworthy that the second name of the archipelago is Le Sirenuse - that is, the habitat of the sweet-voiced sirens. This archipelago is so named because the largest of the three islands resembles the figure of a siren when viewed from above. Or maybe because the islands of Li Galli were described by Homer in the Odyssey, it was there that the sirens sang, a meeting with which almost became fatal for Odysseus and his companions. Sirens with enchanting songs lured travelers sailing by, who, forgetting everything in the world, swam to the magical island and died along with the ships. Odysseus escaped the insidious sirens only thanks to Circe's warning: he covered the ears of his companions with wax, and ordered himself to be tied to the mast. When the prey escaped the insidious sirens, they rushed into the sea in despair and turned into rocks. Besides Odysseus, another mythical hero managed not to become their victim. It was Orpheus. He simply drowned them out with his singing and the sounds of his lyre.
On the largest crescent-shaped island, Gallo Lungo, there was once a monastery, which was later turned into a local prison. Immediately, due to the constant threat of attack on Positano by Saracen pirates, a watchtower was erected, which is now called Aragonese.
It just so happens that the modern history of the Li Galli islands is closely connected with Russian ballet.
They were first glorified by the Russian dancer and choreographer Leonid Myasin. Massine went to the West as a young man, as part of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, and made his brilliant career in Europe and America. In the south of Italy, he was provided with hospitality by the writer Mikhail Semenov, who lived in Positano.
In 1917, Massine and his companions - Sergei Diaghilev, Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau - visited Positano, where Semenov bought an old mill on the beach and turned it into a villa. From the window of the Semenovsk mill, Myasin saw the Li Galli Islands for the first time. The islands then belonged to the local Parlato family. This family used them only for spring quail hunting. Massine recalls: “I felt that here I could find the solitude I needed if I abandoned the debilitating pressure of my chosen career. I decided that one day I would buy Li Galli and make it my home.”
No sooner said than done. In 1922, the archipelago had a new owner. Local residents spoke of him as “a crazy Russian who bought a stone island where only rabbits can live.” And officials reported to Rome: “The purpose of the purchase is unknown - the archipelago is not suitable for anything.”
Massine wanted to turn Li Galli into an artistic center. “I hoped to continue the Diaghilev tradition of young artists, composers, writers, ballet dancers and choreographers coming together to exchange ideas and create new works,” he said. For various reasons, he was unable to do this, but Massine returned to the islands more than once. “Whenever I have been free from professional commitments in recent years, I have spent more and more time on the Li Galli Islands... For many reasons, the Li Galli Islands have played an important role in my life. It was there that I composed the choreography for my most famous productions. Maybe this was the reason why I supported Li Galli for years, despite all the difficulties.” Massine died in 1979 in Cologne. Before he died, he wrote: “When I bought the island, I thought of it only as a quiet refuge from my busy activities. And only now I realized that it was a source of inspiration that led me to an unpretentious life that created a certain spiritual peace and serenity that I could never find anywhere else.”
In 1988, Rudolf Nureyev - the last legend of Li Galli - acquired the islands from the heirs of Massine. Soviet newspapers wrote: “Rudolf Nureyev, a renegade sentenced to 7 years in the camps, bought himself an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea.” For Soviet readers, this archipelago
seemed to be something more, like Nureyev’s fame. They did not know that in fact it is very modest, in fact, it is a compact group of three rocks or even stones. But the glory of these stones truly exceeds their size.
Nureyev’s motto was: “I want to put my tired feet into the warm sea.” On the Li Galli archipelago he succeeded. He invited a few to his abode. Rare guests stayed overnight on the island. On Gallo Lungo, the largest of the three islands, the great dancer built a villa in which he built for himself a real "Ali Baba's cave", richly decorated with antiques and decorated in oriental style.
Nureyev, like Massine, wanted to “dedicate Galli to ballet.” “The island must come to life. Choreographers and dancers could come here to study, develop choreography, and teach,” said Rudolf. He rehearsed his last roles on Gallo Lungo in the hall of the watchtower and dreamed of holding dance evenings on the platform next to it. But Nuriev’s strength was leaving him. He increasingly came to Li Galli just to get away from people and bustle. He dreamed of being buried on these islands, but his dream did not come true; plans to sell the island arose even before his death.
In the mid-90s, after the death of Nureyev, the archipelago was acquired by the Sorrento hotel magnate, Giovanni Russo. He jokingly says that his karma is to buy Russian places: a little earlier he bought a villa in Sorrento, where Maxim Gorky lived. Jovnia Russo is a big fan of Russian culture, who even named his beloved dog Igor, possibly in honor of Stravinsky.
Signor Russo spent fifteen years rebuilding and arranging the island to turn it into a luxurious holiday destination, into a comfortable hotel. And this is what happened:
From here you can distinguish two villas: Villa Giovanni - on the right, peach-colored, and Villa Bellaya, which stands almost close to a small white chapel. Behind Villa Giovanni the top of a 12th century tower can be seen.
If you decide to stay on the island, you have six apartments to choose from: 2 in Villa Giovanni, 2 in the ancient Aragonese Tower and 2 in Villa Bella.
The steps from the chapel lead straight to the sea
Terrace of Villa Giovanni
Each room at Villa Giavanni is decorated with exquisite tiles.
Villa Giovanni's fully tiled bedroom opens onto the dining terrace.
The dining terrace looks like a swimming pool.
Kitchen with clay oven for making pizza.
Nureyev's bedroom, decorated with Turkish carpets and giant lamps.
Entrance to Villa Giovanni.
All snow-white on the outside and inside, the small chapel can accommodate 20 people.
Modern minimalist interior.
The chapel is visible from the terrace of the White Villa
The watchtower now is not like it was in the time of the Saracens. Luxury apartments with plasmas and canvases by contemporary artists occupy all three floors. There is a helipad nearby.
It is widely known that Rudolf Nureyev was not only a ballet genius, but also a millionaire. Much less known is that he had a will and a bunch of relatives. And very few people know what kind of litigation unfolded around this will in the 90s in Europe and America. For lawyers - to die of envy that they did not represent the parties.
Rudolf Nureyev enjoyed fame not only in a narrow circle of ballet fans,
Absolutely everyone in the world knew him then
Nuriev had an amazing capacity for work (he could give up to 300 performances a year), and a mania for hoarding. Having fled the USSR in 1961 with 30 francs in his pocket, by 1993 he owned a 500-acre ranch in Virginia, a house in Dakota and an apartment in New York in the United States.
Nureyev also owned a villa in La Turbie, two apartments on the Quai Voltaire in Paris, an apartment in Monte Carlo in the Principality of Monaco, and a house on the island of St. Barthelemy in the French West Indies. Nureyev also owned the Italian island of Li Galli in the Mediterranean Sea.
Moreover, Nureyev spared no expense on his residences and was considered a passionate collector - he especially adored luxurious antique oriental carpets, antique furniture and images of naked male bodies in painting and sculpture. Whatever it was worth (as well as numerous shares and bank accounts), in 1993 Nureyev's real estate alone was tentatively valued at a minimum of $21 million, with $7 million of assets located in the United States.
Little Rudik with his mother Farida. In 1987, Nuriev was allowed to visit the USSR to meet his dying mother
Rudolf Nureyev was born on a train that was heading to Irkutsk to the new place of service of his father, political instructor of the Red Army Khamet Nureyev, and there were already three daughters in the family before Rudolf. The youngest and most beloved of the sisters, Rosa, along with her daughter Gyuzel, were taken to the West by Rudolf Nureyev as soon as the opportunity arose.
On April 14 in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev wrote his last European will and on April 28, 1992 in New York his last American will, which provided for payments after his death of $200,000 to his sister Rosa and $50,000 to his niece Guzel, and also stipulated Rosa's right to live free of charge until the end of his life in Nuriev’s apartment in Monte Carlo. The rest of Nuriev's relatives in Russia received nothing.
The bulk of the property went to the Wallet Promotion Foundation (BPF) (Nuriyev Foundation for talented young dancers). Rudolph appointed Barry Weinstein, an American lawyer from Chicago who has handled Nureyev's affairs in America since 1974, as the executor of his will.
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AIDS was discovered in Nuriev's blood in 1984. On January 6, 1993, at the age of 54, he died near Paris.
In 1994, Rosa Nureyeva-Francois and her daughter Gyuzel Nureyeva began a legal battle in New York, in which they demanded that their brother's American will be invalidated, and in Monaco, where they demanded that his European will be invalidated. These claims were based on the fact that lawyer Weinstein took advantage of the painful condition of the ballet star, his insanity and inadequacy, and drew up Nureyev’s will practically in his favor.
Later, Nuriev’s second sister, Razida Evgrafova, with her sons Viktor and Yuri Evgrafov, as well as Alfiya Rafikova-Yagudina, the daughter of his third sister Lilla, joined the American lawsuit. However, they never appeared at the court hearings and followed this case from Kazan and Ufa.
The Nureyev family a year before the birth of Rudolf.
The trial lasted four years, until on June 26, 1998, the Federal Court of the Southern District of New York recognized the legality of Nureyev's will. In the ruling, District Judge Denny Chin stated: “Rudolf Nureyev dared to challenge the system. He was not a man who could be manipulated, and remained true to himself even before his death.".
The dancer's grave at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois. Although he was known throughout the world as "Nuriyev", his last name was officially written as "Nureyev"
But this American court decision no longer had any significance - in accordance with the settlement agreement of May 5, 1997, concluded in Monaco, the right of Rosa Nureyeva-Francois was confirmed for the rest of her life to live free of charge in Nureyev’s apartment in Monte Carlo, plus the Nureyev Foundation was obliged pay old lady Rose a lifetime pension of $1,500 (and may she live for a thousand years). But most importantly, the Nureyev Foundation paid Rosa Nureyeva-Francois and her daughter Gyuzel Nureyeva a lump sum of $1.8 million for abandoning their European claims.
The Russian relatives of Rudolf Nureyev were not mentioned in this settlement agreement, since they were not parties to the European litigation and received nothing. So be greedy, heirs - sue.
If there is, of course, for what, and for what...
Photo: www.cluboktravel.com
The fabulous islands of the small Li Galli archipelago are located near the resort town of Positano on the Amalfi Coast. The three islands called Gallo Lungo, Rotunda and Castelletto have a long history and have been described in legends since the times of the Roman Empire. According to mythology, it was here that the sirens ruled, a meeting with whom almost became fatal for Odysseus and his companions. When this prey eluded them, the sirens rushed into the sea in despair and turned into rocks. This is the Li Galli archipelago.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, the legends were forgotten, and the islands, not very suitable for living and swimming, ceased to interest anyone. Until in 1917, Sergei Diaghilev and dancer Leonide Massine arrived in Positano, a fishing village near Naples, in company with Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau. They visited these islands, and Massine liked the privacy of the islands and the views so much that he already decided that someday he would make Li Galli his home.
A few words about Leonid Myasin. Name L.F. Massine, whose work occupies a significant place in the history of world ballet of the 20th century, is not very widely known in Russia. As a dancer, he began in the Bolshoi Theater troupe, from 1914 - in the ballet troupe of Sergei Diaghilev, and performed in Russian Seasons.
Leonid Myasin made his debut as a choreographer in the troupe of Diaghilev's Russian Ballet, where he staged such famous ballets as "Women in a Good Mood", "The Magic Shop", "Parade", "Cocked Hat", "Leap of Steel", etc. After Diaghilev's death, he headed The Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo has collaborated with many companies in America and Europe. It was around him that Diaghilev’s artists united after the death of the great impresario.
Lev Bakst. Leonid Myasin, 1914
Massine's performances became a model for the English national ballet that was emerging in the 30s. It was he who raised Italian ballet from the ruins. The first troupes of South America owe their best performances to him. And even in the USA, until the 50s of the last century, Massine was considered the most authoritative foreign choreographer, and not the famous Balanchine.
Sergey Sudeikin. Portrait of Leonid Massine in the ballet “The Legend of Joseph”
In his memoirs (Myasin L. My life in ballet / Surits E. - M.: Artist. Director. Theater, 1997) Myasin talks about his childhood, his years of study at the Theater School, about the people of art with whom he had the opportunity to work.
Pablo Picasso. Portrait of Leonid Myasin. 1919
The whole company came to Positano to see the miracle mill of Mikhail Semenov, Diaghilev’s friend from St. Petersburg and his chargé d’affaires in Italy. It was he who negotiated with the futurists about the decorations for the ballets, found rehearsal halls in Rome and drew up contracts so that the Ballets Russes company would not lose money. An adventurer and wit, Semenov fled to Italy from his rich wife. He wandered around the cities, from Rome to Naples, met artists, eked out a living by selling their paintings, and finally settled in Positano. I bought an old mill on the beach and turned it into a villa.
Mikhail Larionov. Massine and Diaghilev are resting (pen and ink). Private collection
In 1924, after several years of negotiations with local authorities, Massine managed to buy the islands. He was not rich at that time, nor did he become a rich man later, but he did not require large sums of money to purchase. Li Galli was just three rocky, bush-covered islands, or rather, one small island and two rocks jutting out of the sea nearby. However, the “crazy Russian” managed to inhabit the barren rocks. He laid out terraced gardens that cascaded down from the foot of the tower, and planted the deserted island with pine and cypress trees.
Massine settled on the largest island, Gallo Lungo. Although there was nowhere to live there, apart from the ruins of the Saracen observation tower.
Gradually, through the efforts of Massine, the Li Galli islands became his home for half a century, a refuge for him and his family, his creative laboratory, his office. It was here that he wrote his memoirs, “My Life in Ballet,” and it was here that he thought through his sparkling performances.
Leonid Massine on the island of Gallo Lungo
Thanks to his efforts, an electric generator, a large house for receptions (Villa Grande) and a small one for accommodating guests, as well as fountains, a garden, a vegetable garden and vineyards appeared on the island. The tower was restored, and dance classes and rooms for students were installed in it.
The only building on the island, the ruins of a 14th-century watchtower, was restored and reconstructed by Massine. He built apartments and a rehearsal room inside, decorated with columns made of Carrara marble.
Determined to spend as much time as possible on the island, the dancer came up with an activity for himself - a summer dance school. He even wanted to build a theater, but the foundation was washed away several times by the waves.
Years passed between work and quiet family life. In the mid-1930s, a friend, the architect Le Corbusier, came to visit Massine. Taking a professional look at the dancer’s property, he offered his assistance in remodeling the existing buildings and improving the island.
This is how a swimming pool with a fantastic view of the other two islands of the archipelago appeared on Gallo Lungo, and a modest guest house turned into an aristocratic villa. Snow-white inside, with only views from the windows as decoration, it was called the “White House”.
In 1938, Leonid Myasin separated from Evgenia Delyarova and married Tatyana Milishnikova (stage name Orlova). In 1941, their daughter Tatyana was born (in the future also a dancer, married to Baroness Stefan de Watsdorf), and in 1944 their son Leonid was born, who became a ballet dancer and choreographer, known under the name Lorca Massin (Massine).
Leonid Myasin with his daughter Tatyana
Since 1947, Leonid’s work was mainly associated with Europe. Massine starred in several films, including: "The Red Shoes", "The Tales of Hoffmann" (1951), "Carousel of Naples" (1954), together with Sophia Loren. He also worked as a choreographer for film productions.
Leonid Myasin in one of the films
In the last years of his life, Massine considered it his sacred duty to preserve Diaghilev’s legacy. In 1972, in an interview, he admitted: “I was too young when I met him to appreciate the significance and greatness of his figure. I should have listened to his every word, because he was always right.”
Leonid Myasin died on March 15, 1979 in the German city of Borken. Before his death, he wrote: “When I bought the island, I thought of it only as a quiet refuge from my busy activities. And only now I realized that it was a source of inspiration that led me to an unpretentious life that created a certain spiritual peace and serenity, which I could never find anywhere else."
After the death of Leonid Myasin in 1979, the family hesitated for some time whether to sell the island, but it was too difficult to maintain.
Fortunately, a worthy buyer was found. Leonide Massine Jr., whom everyone called Lorca, was then dancing at the Paris Grand Opera.
Leonid Massine with his son Lorca
The head of the ballet troupe, Rudolf Nureyev, admired his father’s work and persuaded his son to sell the island. “This place will inspire me,” said the dancer. He did not yet know that he was sick (he was diagnosed with HIV only in 1985) and would soon no longer be able to go on stage.
Rudolf Nureyev
Nureyev set about arranging the island with the same indomitable energy that was amazing in his dance. Massine's style seemed too ascetic to him, and he conceived a grandiose remodeling of the interiors. From all his trips, the dancer brought antique furniture and dishes.
The “White House”, the main villa and the tower turned into luxurious oriental palaces, bright and exuberant, like the scenery for his latest ballet “La Bayadère”. The walls are tiled, variegated in Moorish style, sometimes with Arabic script. On his orders, huge quantities of mosaics and ceramic tiles were brought to the island, which he personally looked through and chose what would be used to decorate the walls.
The Myasins' dining table has been preserved in the kitchen. The legs and frame are wooden, and the upper part is made of milky marble.
Nureyev, like Massine, wanted to “dedicate Galli to ballet.” “The island should come to life. Merce Cunningham and Glen Tetley (American choreographers), as well as dancers, could come here to study, develop choreography, and teach,” said Rudolph. He rehearsed his last roles in the hall of the watchtower and dreamed of holding dance evenings on the platform next to it. But Nureyev’s strength was leaving him. He increasingly came to Gully just to get away from people and bustle.
Numerous guests recall that the artist did not look like he was dying. He worked as long as he could, despite the cough and fever, was enthusiastically engaged in interior design, sunbathed and rushed around the island on a jet ski. Nureyev believed that the sun and work could cure him. They helped, but only for a while.
Rudolf Nureyev
After the dancer's death in 1993, the island, which formally belonged to the foundation named after him, was empty for several years. Hotel magnate Giovanni Russo bought the island in 1995 from the Nureyev Foundation. By that time, the Foundation had sold all the furniture at auction. So the new owner of Galli collected the heritage of the previous two bit by bit, at antique salons around the world.
Giovanni Russo, realized the old dream of Leonid Massine and Rudolf Nureyev about festivals on the islands of Li Galli. At the end of August 2014, the first music concerts and dances took place here, and then a small art seminar. All this took place as part of the annual festival “Positan Myth”. So the Russian tradition continues...
Sources of information and photos.
Li Galli, also known as Le Sirenuse, is a small island archipelago located off the coast of the Amalfi Riviera between the island of Capri and 6 km southwest of Positano. The name Sirenuse comes from the mythological sirens, who, according to legend, lived on the islands in ancient times. The archipelago consists of three main islands - the crescent-shaped Gallo Lungo, La Castelluccia, also known as Gallo dei Briganti, and the almost circular La Rotonda. Closer to the coast is the fourth island, Isca, and finally, between Li Galli and Isca lies the rocky outcrop of Vetara.
They say that in ancient times there lived sirens on Li Galli, the most famous of which were Parthenope, Lycosia and Ligeia. One of them played the lyre, the other the flute, and the third sang. In the 1st century BC. they were mentioned by the Greek geographer Strabo. In ancient times, sirens were described as creatures with the bodies of birds and the heads of women, and in the Middle Ages they turned into mermaids. By the way, the modern name of the archipelago - Li Galli - is related to the bird-shaped bodies of the sirens, since it means “chicken”.
On the main island of the archipelago, Gallo Lungo, there was once a monastery, and later a prison. During the reign of Charles II of Naples in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, the Amalfi coast was very often attacked by pirates. To prevent danger, Charles ordered the construction of a watchtower on the ruins of an ancient Roman building on Gallo Lungo. But since Charles did not have enough money for this, he accepted the offer of a certain Pasquale Celentano from Positano, who gave money for construction in exchange for a promise that he would be appointed caretaker of the fortress. The tower, now called Aragonese, was built around 1312. It housed a garrison of four soldiers. Over the centuries, the position of tower keeper changed hands until, with the formation of the Kingdom of Italy, responsibility for the buildings on Gallo Lungo passed to the municipality of Positano. And in 1919, the island was seen by Leonid Massine, a Russian choreographer and dancer, who three years later bought it and began turning it into a private residence. First of all, Massine restored the Aragonese Tower and turned it into an inn with a dance studio and an open-air theater. Unfortunately, this theater was subsequently destroyed during a storm. Also, Massine, with the help of designer Le Corbusier, built a villa on Gallo Lungo, from the bedrooms of which there was a wonderful view of Positano. There were also huge terraced gardens overlooking the cape of Punta Licosa and the island of Capri.
After Massine's death, the island was acquired by another Russian dancer, Rudolf Nureyev, in 1988, who spent the last years of his life here. He refurnished the villa in Moorish style and decorated the interiors with tiles from Seville. After Nureyev's death, in 1996 the island was bought by Giovanni Rossi, a hotel owner from Sorrento, who turned the villa into a hotel.
As for the other island, Isca, it was once bought by a screenwriter from Naples, Eduardo de Filippo. Today his son owns the island. Iska has a nice villa and garden facing the cliffs.