Imperial Dancer: Mathilde Kschessinska and the Romanovs (30 page)

Mathilde particularly enjoyed walking near the coast where there were superb views of the Black Sea. One day she visited the Tsar’s estate of Livadia. Nicholas and Alexandra had recently built a new white Italianate palace but the old wooden ‘Maly’ palace was still standing and it was possible to see this by special permission of the major-domo. Mathilde walked through the Empress Marie Feodorovna’s rooms, saw the room in which Alexander III died (with its distinctive white cross in the floor marking the place where his armchair had stood when he breathed his last) and then, most interesting of all for her, the rooms which Nicholas had occupied as Tsarevich.

As often as possible she visited Andrei at Tchair. His health was beginning to improve but the slightest exertion was tiring. Although many of his Romanov relatives were staying on their nearby estates Andrei invited only Mathilde and Vova to visit. On his drives he often called in to see them at Novy Mishkor.

Nearby was Foros, the property of Mathilde’s friend Ouchkov, who instructed his agent to show Mathilde the estate. She went with Misha Alexandrov and they had an interesting tour followed by lunch, washed down with Crimean wine.

Alarming news of her mother’s health forced Mathilde to hurry back to Strelna, where Julia Kschessinska died peacefully on 22 November. After a funeral service in the Catholic church her body was taken to the mortuary chapel at the Monastery of St Sergius at Strelna (where Vova took communion), by special permission of the Orthodox Archimandrite (head of the monastery) Serge. By way of thanks Mathilde donated a complete set of mauve brocade church vestments to the monastery, which the clergy wore for the memorial masses said for her mother. In the cemetery, which held the graves of many eminent people, Mathilde built a small crypt with a chapel above. The interior was of marble mosaic and the bronze door was by the sculptor Khlebnikov. The body of Julia Kschessinska was moved to this chapel in 1913.

After the Revolution the monastery and churches were turned into barracks and the cemetery was destroyed. All recent attempts to find the burial place of Mathilde Kschessinska’s mother have been unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, on 20 November, Andrei entered a brand new sanatorium at Reichenhall near Munich, as the doctor thought the mountain air would be more beneficial. Almost immediately on his arrival Andrei caught severe bronchitis. When he recovered he was summoned to Munich, where Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna wanted to see just what condition her son was in. She had brought with her from Paris her physician Dr Roben, who found that traces of bronchitis still remained. As Marie Pavlovna had expected, Dr Roben stated that Reichenhall was completely unsuitable for Andrei and he advised immediate transfer to St Moritz for the winter.

The director of the sanatorium was in despair. It was their first winter season, a lot of money had been spent on publicity and Andrei was their only client. The director hurried to Munich to try and persuade the Grand Duchess to change her mind. Marie Pavlovna and her doctor remained adamant. Andrei was despatched to the Kulm Hotel at St Moritz. To ensure he had the best medical care Dr Maak was summoned from Russia.

Due to mourning for her mother, Mathilde’s only performance that season was in the benefit for the
corps de ballet
in December. In January she therefore decided to join Andrei in Switzerland.

The Kulm Hotel, built in 1856, was the oldest hotel in St Moritz. Eight years later it became the first to welcome winter guests to the mountains and in 1878 the first electric light in Switzerland
was installed in the building. Lying in the high alpine valley of the Engadine with a natural backdrop of lakes and pine-covered mountain slopes, it was well patronised by royalty. Attractions included skating, curling, the Tobogganing Club and a golf course, and it was close to the village centre and the funicular station.

Mathilde was delighted when Andrei met her at the station in a sledge drawn by horses, little bells jingling on their harnesses. In the bright sunshine the picturesque high street resembled a vibrant toyshop window, she recalled, with the people wearing thick, brightly coloured jumpers against the cold, carrying their skis or pulling toboggans along.

Their rooms were almost a self-contained flat, with a view of the ice-rink and the spectacular valley in the distance. The first thing they did was to buy Mathilde some special overshoes to wear in the snow.

Although the daytime temperature could rise to 20 degrees Celsius in the sun, in the shade it was usually only around 8 degrees. It was too cold for Andrei to go out before 11 o’clock in the morning when the sun came well up over the mountains. Their first stop was usually the ice-rink, where Mathilde watched Andrei perform. She took a few lessons, although time did not allow her to learn to skate properly. In the afternoons, well muffled against the winter weather, they drove out in the sledge to admire the wonderful scenery. By 5 o’clock they were back at the hotel before the weather became too cold again. Later they dined in the restaurant or, if they were very tired or too lazy to dress for dinner, a meal was sent up to their suite.

Mathilde could not stay long in St Moritz. She had to return to St Petersburg to take part in a very important performance.

In February 1913 the Romanov Dynasty celebrated its tercentenary and great celebrations were planned. The red, white and blue Russian colours decked the streets of St Petersburg, buildings and monuments were lavishly decorated and the press published special jubilee editions to mark the event.

It was in 1613 during the ‘Time of Troubles’, when the country was ruled by claimants and pretenders and the Poles invaded the land, that sixteen-year-old Michael Romanov was elected Tsar of Russia. Legend says that Michael was hiding in a remote monastery in Kostroma 200 miles from Moscow when the Polish invaders decided to seize him. Ivan Susanin, a peasant, offered to show the Poles the way to the monastery but instead guided them into a dense forest. Susanin paid for this bravery with his life but the young Tsar was saved. Glinka
used the story for his opera
A Life for the Tsar
, which traditionally opened every season at the Maryinsky.

On 22 February the Maryinsky was filled to capacity for a gala performance in the presence of the Tsar, both Empresses and almost the entire Imperial family, who occupied the four centre boxes. Among the distinguished audience were the Emir of Bokhara and the Khan of Khiva, both wearing colourful national costumes and accompanied by large entourages.

Partnered by Legat, Mathilde led the mazurka in the second act of
A Life for the Tsar
, which takes place at a ball in the Polish army’s headquarters. Not once during the evening was the Empress, wearing a white velvet dress with a sparkling diamond tiara, seen to smile. Then, in the middle of the performance, she left the Imperial box in a state of distress. ‘A little wave of resentment rippled over the theatre,’ recalled the British Ambassador’s daughter. Perhaps she was upset by the sight of Mathilde – ‘that awful woman’ – a subject taboo in the family.
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At the beginning of March Mathilde took Vova to join Andrei in the Villa Morlat in Cap d’Ail. The Grand Duke had hired a cook, Margot, who proved to be first-class and quickly learnt to prepare the traditional Russian dishes. There was also a young Swiss butler, Arnold, impeccable in a frockcoat, who delighted Mathilde on their first evening by decorating the dinner table with red roses tied into knots of dark blue ribbon. Botin, the gardener, and Antoinette the kitchen maid completed the staff. Arnold gave Mathilde a white pigeon which was so tame that it walked around the table and shared her breakfast. It flew into the garden during the day but always returned to the villa at dusk.

They spent Easter in Cannes, where Andrei and Vova attended services at the Russian Church, returning for supper in Mathilde’s suite at the newly opened Carlton Hotel. Although Mathilde was a Catholic she always took special care to order the traditional
pashka
, a rich creamy desert made in a pyramid-shaped mould, and
kulich
, thick round cylindrical Easter bread topped with white icing and the symbol XB – Christ is Risen. The owner of the local confectioner’s was a German but he had learnt to cater for the large Russian community. Also on the table that evening were a set of green crystal glasses, two silver vases and some silverware, Mathilde’s Easter presents from Grand Dukes Andrei and Sergei.

Andrei and Mathilde liked the South of France. The climate agreed with his health, they had many friends in the area, there were
invitations to accept and a constant round of entertaining. Andrei took the opportunity to visit his cousin Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, who had taken a whole floor at the lavish Hotel du Parc in Cannes. The Tsar’s only surviving brother had recently been banished from Russia for marrying his mistress Mme Natasha Wulfert (who now took the name Natasha Brasova), a twice-divorced woman by whom he already had a two-year-old son George. Andrei must have reflected that ‘he had everything to lose and nothing to gain’ by marrying Mathilde.
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Mathilde and Andrei found life there so agreeable that when they learnt the Villa Morlat would not be available to lease that autumn they decided to find a home of their own. The agent assured them that it was possible to buy an appropriate property for a very modest sum but the price of the most suitable villa, which had no central heating and needed repairs, was 200,000 francs (over £385,000 in today’s values). Mathilde called in an architect, who told her that the cost of this work would be 20,000 francs. Mathilde therefore offered 180,000 francs, which was rejected. The agent advised her to be patient as the owner had to sell. Sure enough, a few weeks later Andrei was able to buy the villa in Mathilde’s name for 180,000 francs, equivalent to over £346,000 today.

At the beginning of June they returned to Russia. Andrei left for Kostroma to take part in the tercentenary celebrations there, while Mathilde and Vova moved to Strelna.

There were no large parties at Strelna that summer, nor did Mathilde appear at Krasnoe Selo. This disappointed Grand Duke Dimitri who, through the administration of the theatre, made it known that he expected her to be at the next performance even if she would not be dancing. Mathilde spent the evening chatting to Dimitri in her dressing room.

Friends came to the dacha to play poker (Mathilde refused to play bridge). Sometimes she entertained Grand Duke Dimitri and his fellow officers stationed at Peterhof, sending her car to bring them over for supper. Once the party lasted until dawn. Unfortunately Dimitri, as ADC to the Tsar, had to attend a ceremonial parade that morning at which Nicholas’s elder daughters would ride as honorary colonels of their regiments (Olga the Hussars and Tatiana the Uhlans). Mathilde attended the parade with Julie and Ali. With a surge of emotion she saw the Tsar appear and, with a sigh of relief, spotted Dimitri
behind him. The Grand Duke had just found time to dash back to St Petersburg, change and return to Peterhof before the parade began.

The white pigeon also returned with her to Strelna. It was now so tame that it perched on Mathilde’s head. The bird’s best friend was Djibi, Mathilde’s fox terrier, and dog and pigeon slept on the ballerina’s bed. In the St Petersburg mansion the bird lived in the Winter Garden, where it could come and go freely.

When Mathilde returned to the south of France that autumn it was to live in her own home. Villa Alam (so called because it was the diminutive of Mathilde in French, ‘Mala’, spelt backwards) was in a wonderful position on the edge of a mountain overlooking the sea. While final repairs were being finished she and Andrei stayed at the Eden Hotel in Cannes, where Mathilde spent the time ordering furniture in Nice for Andrei’s bedroom.

There were celebrations when they finally moved into Villa Alam. Mathilde was overjoyed at living with Andrei in such a delightful setting. However, they quickly discovered that the villa was not large enough and workmen were soon dynamiting the cliff to build a lower house.

After two idyllic months Mathilde returned to St Petersburg while Andrei, whose health was again giving cause for concern, left to spend the winter in St Moritz. They were sad to part and Mathilde wanted to join him for the Catholic Christmas. As Vova had to remain at home to study Mathilde left for Switzerland with Djibi and Misha Alexandrov.

Although the visitors’ list for the area makes no mention of Mathilde’s arrival, it shows that Andrei and his ADC arrived at the Kulm Hotel on 19 November/2 December.
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Mathilde resumed her skating lessons and in the afternoon they went for sleigh rides, towing Misha behind on a toboggan. One day Misha’s toboggan overturned, throwing him into a pit. Unfortunately, Mathilde and Andrei failed to notice – they had fallen asleep. Mathilde’s dog Djibi loved to jump in the deep snow when they walked in the woods. In the evenings they returned to warm themselves beside the fire in their suite, with its magical Christmas tree.

After two lovely weeks together Mathilde returned home for the Russian Christmas on 7 January. She had planned a special party for Vova and his friends. An enormous Christmas tree stood near the Winter Garden, with chairs for the children around it. Dourov, the famous clown, came with his performing animals which this year included an elephant. It was with some difficulty that they smuggled
the large animal into the house and hid it in the cloakroom, but the delight on the children’s faces was evident when the elephant appeared, lay on a bed and took up a chamber pot. Afterwards every child received a present from the tree.

Mathilde returned to St Moritz after Christmas to find other Romanovs in residence. ‘H.I.H. the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia and his wife Mme Natalie de Brassov [
sic
] have an apartment in the Suvretta House [Hotel]’, reported the
Alpine Post & Engadine Express
on 27 January 1914. While Michael and Andrei went skiing, Mathilde and Natasha contented themselves with forays on to the ice-rink and long sleigh rides swathed in furs. The sight of these two women caused a stir in St Moritz – one the prima ballerina
assoluta
of the Maryinsky Theatre and mistress of Grand Duke Andrei, the other ‘the most notorious woman in high society’, yet both ‘clearly adored by the two proud Grand Dukes hovering around them’.
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