''Coco and Igor'' is a 2002 novel by

Chris Greenhalgh Chris Greenhalgh is a British novelist, screenwriter, teacher and poet. Life Chris Greenhalgh was born in 1963 and brought up in Manchester. After studying English Literature at university, he lived and worked for five years in Italy and Ath ...

. Set mainly in Paris in 1920, it is based on a possible real-life affair between

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

and

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

Plot summary

Stravinsky's ''

The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring''. Full name: ''The Rite of Spring: Pictures from Pagan Russia in Two Parts'' (french: Le Sacre du printemps: tableaux de la Russie païenne en deux parties) (french: Le Sacre du printemps, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral ...

'' has its Paris premiere on 29 May 1913. Coco is mesmerised by the power of Igor's composition, but the audience is scandalised by its discordant, rhythmic music and Nijinsky's primitive choreography. Coco finally meets Igor seven years later, at a dinner hosted by

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...

, impresario of the

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...

. Igor has been forced to flee Russia – with his wife and four children – following the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

. Coco invites him to bring his family to stay with her at her villa in

Garches Garches () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Garches has remained largely residential, but is also the location of Raymond Poincaré University Hospital, which specialises in traumat ...

– 'Bel Respiro'. '' Couturière'' and composer soon begin an affair. Both experience a surge of creativity; while Coco creates

Chanel No. 5 Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921. The scent formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The design of its bottle has been an imp ...

(with perfumer

Ernest Beaux Ernest Beaux ( – 9 June 1961) was a Russian-born French perfumer who is best known for creating Chanel No. 5, which is perhaps the world's most famous perfume. Family background Born in Moscow, Ernest Beaux was the son of Edouard Hyppolite ...

), Igor's compositions display a new, liberated style. But Igor's wife, Katerina, becomes ill with

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curre ...

and an unbearable tension takes hold of 'Bel Respiro' and its occupants.

Structure

The

piano keyboard A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, sho ...

operates as a framework for the novel. There are eighty-eight chapters, corresponding to the number of keys on a piano.

Reviews

''Coco and Igor''
Review at ''Vogue'' (11 June 2002)
"Eau de rancour"
by Peter Conrad, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'' (30 June 2002)
"Books: ''Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky''"
by Stephanie Green, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' (6 December 2009)

Film adaptation

Greenhalgh adapted his novel for the 2009 film ''

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky ''Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky'' is a 2009 French romantic drama film directed by Jan Kounen. It was chosen as the Closing Film of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, and was shown on 24 May 2009. ''Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky'' is based on the 2 ...

'', directed by

Jan Kounen Jan Kounen (born Jan Coenen; 2 May 1964) is a Netherlands-born French film director and producer. In France, he is mostly known for his films '' Dobermann'' (1997), '' Blueberry, l'experience secrete'' (2004) and '' 99 francs'' (2007). Outside F ...

and starring

Anna Mouglalis Anna Mouglalis ( el, Άννα Μουγλάλη; born 26 April 1978) is a French actress and model. She is known for being a house ambassador for Chanel since 2002, and for portraying the fashion designer Coco Chanel in the 2009 film ''Coco Chane ...

and

Mads Mikkelsen Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen, (; born 22 November 1965) is a Danish actor. Originally a gymnast and dancer, he rose to fame in Denmark as an actor for his roles such as Tonny in the first two films of the ''Pusher'' film trilogy (1996, 2004), Det ...

. The film was selected to occupy the prestigious closing slot at the

2009 Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

on 24 May 2009. The riotous premiere of ''The Rite of Spring'' at the

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while ...

on 29 May 1913 is legendary (see: The Rite of Spring#Premiere).

Historical context

In the spring of 1920, Chanel was introduced to Stravinsky by Sergei Diaghilev, impresario of the

. During the summer, Chanel discovered that the Stravinsky family was seeking a place to live. She invited them to "Bel Respiro" until they could find a more suitable residence (they arrived in the second week of September and stayed until May 1921). Chanel also guaranteed the 1920 Ballets Russes production of ''The Rite of Spring'' against financial loss with an anonymous gift to Diaghilev, said to be 300,000 francs. The personal relationships depicted in the novel are largely fictionalised. Stravinsky was reputed to have been a philanderer who had several affairs, including one with Chanel. Whereas Stravinsky never publicly referred to this alleged affair, Chanel spoke about it at length to her biographer

Paul Morand Paul Morand (13 March 1888 – 24 July 1976) was a French author whose short stories and novellas were lauded for their style, wit and descriptive power. His most productive literary period was the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. He was mu ...

in 1946 (the conversation was published thirty years later as '' l'Allure de Chanel''). The accuracy of Chanel's claims has been disputed both by Stravinsky's second wife,

Vera Vera may refer to: Names *Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarra ...

, and by his close musical collaborator,

Robert Craft Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books. ...

. The Chanel fashion house avers there is no evidence that any affair between Chanel and Stravinsky ever occurred.Fact-or-fiction Chanel-Stravinsky affair curtains Cannes
''Swiss News'', 25 May 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2010.

Editions

English

* UK hardback: Headline Review, 1 July 2002 () * UK paperback: Headline Review, 7 July 2003 () * US trade paperback:

Riverhead Books Riverhead Books is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) founded in 1994 by Susan Petersen Kennedy. Writers published by Riverhead include Ali Sethi, Marlon James, Junot Díaz, George Saunders, Khaled Hosseini, Nick Hornby, Anne Lamott, Carlo Rove ...

(an imprint of Penguin USA), 1 December 2009 ()

Translations

''Coco and Igor'' has been translated into several languages, including: * French: 'Coco et Igor' – Calmann-Levy, 8 April 2009, translated by Elsa Maggion () * Russian: 'Villa Bel Respiro' – Symposium, 1 June 2009 () * Polish: 'Coco i Igor' – Wydawnictwo Amber, 2002, translated by Barbara Przbylowska () * Greek: 'Coco and Igor' – Empeiria, November 2003, translated by Persa Koumoutsi () * Chinese: 'Coco and Igor' – Sun Color Culture Publishing Co. Ltd, October 2009 ()

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coco And Igor 2002 British novels Fiction about fashion Films about fashion British historical novels Novels set in Paris British novels adapted into films Cultural depictions of Igor Stravinsky Cultural depictions of Coco Chanel Fiction set in the 1910s Headline Publishing Group books