The Nutcracker

This article is about the ballet and the music by Tchaikovsky. For other uses, see Nutcracker (disambiguation).
"The Nutcracker Suite" redirects here. For the albums, see The Nutcracker Suite (Tim Sparks album) and The Nutcracker Suite (Duke Ellington album).
Ballets and revivals of Marius Petipa

*Paquita (1847, *1881)
*Le Corsaire (1858, 1863, 1868, 1885, 1899)
The Pharaoh's Daughter (1862, *1885, *1898)
Le Roi Candaule (1868, *1891, *1903)
Don Quixote (1869, *1871)
La Bayadère (1877, *1900)
*Giselle (1884, 1899, 1903)
*Coppélia (1884)
*La fille mal gardée (1885)
*La Esmeralda (1886, 1899)
The Talisman (1889)
The Sleeping Beauty (1890)
The Nutcracker (1892)
Cinderella (1893)
Le Réveil de Flore (1894)
*Swan Lake (1895)
*The Little Humpbacked Horse (1895)
Raymonda (1898)
The Seasons (1900)
Harlequinade (1900)

* revival

The Nutcracker (Russian: Щелкунчик, Балет-феерия / Shchelkunchik, Balet-feyeriya; French: Casse-Noisette, ballet-féerie) is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (op. 71). The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, by way of Alexander Dumas' adapted story 'The Nutcracker'. It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on Sunday, December 18, 1892, on a double-bill with Tchaikovsky's opera Iolanta.[1]

Although the original production was not a success, the 20-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. However, the complete Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late 1960s, and is now performed by countless ballet companies, primarily during the Christmas season, especially in North America.[2] Major American ballet companies generate around 40 percent of their annual ticket revenues from performances of The Nutcracker.[3][4]

Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions, in particular the pieces featured in the suite.[5] Among other things, the score is noted for its use of the celesta, an instrument that the composer had already employed in his much lesser known symphonic ballad The Voyevoda.

Composition

After the success of The Sleeping Beauty in 1890, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, the director of the Imperial Theatres, commissioned Tchaikovsky to compose a double-bill program featuring both an opera and a ballet. The opera would be Iolanta. For the ballet, Tchaikovsky would again join forces with Marius Petipa, with whom he had collaborated on The Sleeping Beauty. The material Petipa chose was an adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by Alexandre Dumas père called The Tale of the Nutcracker.[1] The plot of Hoffmann's story (and Dumas' adaptation) was greatly simplified for the two-act ballet. Hoffmann's tale contains a long flashback story within its main plot titled The Tale of the Hard Nut, which explains how the Prince was turned into the Nutcracker. This had to be excised for the ballet.[6]

Petipa gave Tchaikovsky extremely detailed instructions for the composition of each number, down to the tempo and number of bars.[1] The completion of the work was interrupted for a short time when Tchaikovsky visited the United States for twenty-five days to conduct concerts for the opening of Carnegie Hall.[7] Tchaikovsky composed parts of The Nutcracker in Rouen, France.[8]

History

Ballets by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Swan Lake (1876)
Sleeping Beauty (1889)
The Nutcracker (1892)
List of all compositions

St. Petersburg première

The first performance of the ballet was held as a double premiere together with Tchaikovsky's last opera, Iolanta, on 18 December [O.S. 6 December] 1892, at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Although the libretto was by Marius Petipa, who exactly choreographed the first production has been debated. Petipa began work on the choreography in August 1892; however, illness removed him from its completion and his assistant of seven years, Lev Ivanov, was brought in. Although Ivanov is often credited as the choreographer, some contemporary accounts credit Petipa. The performance was conducted by Riccardo Drigo, with Antonietta Dell'Era as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Pavel Gerdt as Prince Coqueluche, Stanislava Belinskaya as Clara, Sergei Legat as the Nutcracker-Prince, and Timofey Stukolkin as Drosselmeyer. The children's roles, unlike many later productions, were performed by real children rather than adults (with Belinskaya as Clara, and Vassily Stukolkin as Fritz), students of Imperial Ballet School of St. Petersburg.

The first performance of The Nutcracker was not deemed a success.[9] The reaction to the dancers themselves was ambivalent. While some critics praised Dell'Era on her pointework as the Sugar Plum Fairy (she allegedly received five curtain-calls), one critic called her "corpulent" and "podgy."[10] Olga Preobrajenskaya as the Columbine doll was panned by one critic as "completely insipid" and praised as "charming" by another.[10]

Alexandre Benois described the choreography of the battle scene as confusing: "One can not understand anything. Disorderly pushing about from corner to corner and running backwards and forwards – quite amateurish."[10]

(Left to right) Lydia Rubtsova as Marianna, Stanislava Belinskaya as Clara and Vassily Stukolkin as Fritz, in the original production of The Nutcracker (Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, 1892).
The original production of The Nutcracker, 1892

The libretto was criticized for being "lopsided"[11] and for not being faithful to the Hoffmann tale. Much of the criticism focused on the featuring of children so prominently in the ballet,[12] and many bemoaned the fact that the ballerina did not dance until the Grand Pas de Deux near the end of the second act (which did not occur until nearly midnight during the program).[11] Some found the transition between the mundane world of the first scene and the fantasy world of the second act too abrupt.[1] Reception was better for Tchaikovsky's score. Some critics called it "astonishingly rich in detailed inspiration" and "from beginning to end, beautiful, melodious, original, and characteristic."[13] But even this was not unanimous as some critics found the party scene "ponderous" and the Grand Pas de Deux "insipid."[14]

Subsequent productions

In 1919, choreographer Alexander Gorsky staged a production which eliminated the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier and gave their dances to Clara and the Nutcracker Prince, who were played by adults instead of children. His was the first production to do so. An abridged version of the ballet was first performed outside Russia in Budapest (Royal Opera House) in 1927, with choreography by Ede Brada.[15] In 1934, choreographer Vasili Vainonen staged a version of the work that addressed many of the criticisms of the original 1892 production by casting adult dancers in the roles of Clara and the Prince, as Gorsky had. The Vainonen version influenced several later productions.[1]

The first complete performance outside Russia took place in England in 1934,[9] staged by Nicholas Sergeyev after Petipa's original choreography. Annual performances of the ballet have been staged there since 1952.[16] Another abridged version of the ballet, performed by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, was staged in New York City in 1940,[17] Alexandra Fedorova – again, after Petipa's version.[9] The ballet's first complete United States performance was on 24 December 1944, by the San Francisco Ballet, staged by its artistic director, Willam Christensen, and starring Gisella Caccialanza as the Sugar Plum Fairy.[9] After the enormous success of this production, San Francisco Ballet has presented Nutcracker every Christmas Eve and throughout the winter season, debuting new productions in 1944, 1954, 1967, and 2004. The New York City Ballet gave its first annual performance of George Balanchine's staging of The Nutcracker in 1954.[9] Beginning in the 1960s, the tradition of performing the complete ballet at Christmas eventually spread to the rest of the United States.

Since Gorsky, Vainonen and Balanchine's productions, many other choreographers have made their own versions. Some institute the changes made by Gorsky and Vainonen while others, like Balanchine, utilize the original libretto. Some notable productions include those by Rudolf Nureyev for the Royal Ballet, Yuri Grigorovich for the Bolshoi Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov for the American Ballet Theatre, and Peter Wright for the Royal Ballet and the Birmingham Royal Ballet. In recent years, revisionist productions, including those by Mark Morris, Matthew Bourne, and Mikhail Chemiakin have appeared; these depart radically from both the original 1892 libretto and Vainonen's revival, while Maurice Bejart's version completely discards the original plot and characters. In addition to annual live stagings of the work, many productions have also been televised and/or released on home video.[2]

Roles

Olga Preobrajenska as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Nikolai Legat as Prince Coqueluche in the Grand pas de deux in the original production of The Nutcracker. Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, c. 1900

The following extrapolation of the characters (in order of appearance) is drawn from an examination of the stage directions in the score.[18]

Act I

Act II

Synopsis

Konstantin Ivanov's original sketch for the set of The Nutcracker (1892)

Below is a synopsis based on the original 1892 libretto by Marius Petipa. The story varies from production to production, though most follow the basic outline. The names of the characters also vary. In the original E.T.A. Hoffmann story, the young heroine is called Marie Stahlbaum and Clara (Klärchen) is her doll's name. In the adaptation by Dumas on which Petipa based his libretto, her name is Marie Silberhaus.[6] In still other productions, such as Baryshnikov's, Clara is Clara Stahlbaum rather than Clara Silberhaus.

Act I

Scene 1: The Stahlbaum Home

It is Christmas Eve. Family and friends have gathered in the parlor to decorate the beautiful Christmas tree in preparation for the party. Once the tree is finished, the children are sent for. They stand in awe of the tree sparkling with candles and decorations.

The party begins. A march is played. Presents are given out to the children. Suddenly, as the owl-topped grandmother clock strikes eight, a mysterious figure enters the room. It is Drosselmeyer, a local councilman, magician, and Clara's godfather. He is also a talented toymaker who has brought with him gifts for the children, including four lifelike dolls who dance to the delight of all. He then has them put away for safekeeping.

Clara and Fritz are sad to see the dolls being taken away, but Drosselmeyer has yet another toy for them: a wooden nutcracker carved in the shape of a little man, used for cracking nuts. The other children ignore it, but Clara immediately takes a liking to it. Fritz, however, accidentally breaks it. Clara is heartbroken.

During the night, after everyone else has gone to bed, Clara returns to the parlor to check on her beloved nutcracker. As she reaches the little bed, the clock strikes midnight and she looks up to see Drosselmeyer perched atop it. Suddenly, mice begin to fill the room and the Christmas tree begins to grow to dizzying heights. The nutcracker also grows to life size. Clara finds herself in the midst of a battle between an army of gingerbread soldiers and the mice, led by their king. They begin to eat the soldiers.

The nutcracker appears to lead the soldiers, who are joined by tin ones and dolls who serve as doctors to carry away the wounded. As the Mouse King advances on the still-wounded nutcracker, Clara throws her slipper at him, distracting him long enough for the nutcracker to stab him.

Scene 2: A Pine Forest

The mice retreat and the nutcracker is transformed into a handsome Prince. He leads Clara through the moonlit night to a pine forest in which the snowflakes dance around them, beckoning them on to his kingdom as the first act ends.

Act II

Scene 1: The Land of Sweets

Clara and the Prince travel to the beautiful Land of Sweets, ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy in his place until his return. He recounts for her how he had been saved from the Mouse King by Clara and had been transformed back into his own self.

In honor of the young heroine, a celebration of sweets from around the world is produced: chocolate from Spain, coffee from Arabia, tea from China, and candy canes from Russia all dance for their amusement; Danish shepherdesses perform on their flutes; Mother Ginger has her children, the Polichinelles, emerge from under her enormous hoop skirt to dance; a string of beautiful flowers perform a waltz. To conclude the night, the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier perform a dance.

A final waltz is performed by all the sweets, after which the Sugar Plum Fairy ushers Clara and the Prince down from their throne. He bows to her, she kisses Clara goodbye, and leads them to a reindeer drawn sleigh. It takes off as they wave goodbye to all the subjects who wave back.

In the original libretto, the ballet's apotheosis "represents a large beehive with flying bees, closely guarding their riches".[19] Just like Swan Lake, there have been various alternative endings created in productions subsequent to the original.

The music

From the Imperial Ballet's 1892 program

Titles of all of the numbers listed here come from Marius Petipa's original scenario, as well as the original libretto and programs of the first production of 1892. All libretti and programs of works performed on the stages of the Imperial Theatres were titled in French, which was the official language of the Imperial Court, as well as the language from which balletic terminology is derived.

Casse-Noisette. Ballet-féerie in two acts and three tableaux with apotheosis.

Act I

01. Petite ouverture
02. Scène: Une fête de Noël
03. Marche et petit galop des enfants
04. Danse des incroyables et merveilleuses
05. Entrée de Drosselmeyer
06. Danses des poupées mécaniques—
a. Le Soldat et la vivandière
b. Arlequin et Colombine (originally composed for a She-devil and a He-devil)
07. Le Casse-Noisette—Polka et la berceuse
08. Danse "Großvater"
09. Grand scène fantastique: la métamorphose du salon
10. La bataille de Casse-Noisette et du Roi des souris
11. Le voyage
12. Valse des flocons de neige

Act II

13a. Entr'acte
13b. Grand scène de Confiturembürg
Grand divertissement—
14. "Chocolat"—Danse espagnole
15. "Café"—Danse arabe
16. "Thé"—Danse chinoise
17. Danse des Bouffons
18. Danse des mirlitons
19. La mère Gigogne et les polichinelles
20. Grand ballabile (a.k.a. Waltz of the Flowers)
21. Pas de deux—
a. Adage
b. Variation du Prince Coqueluche (M. Pavel Gerdt)
c. Variation de la Fée-Dragée (Mlle Antoinetta Dell'Era)
d. Coda
22. Coda générale
23. Apothéose: Une ruche
Ivan Vsevolozhsky's original costume designs for Mother Gigogne and her Polichinelle children, 1892.
Variation of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Structure

List of acts, scenes (tableaux) and musical numbers, along with tempo indications. Numbers are given according to the original Russian and French titles of the first edition score (1892), the piano reduction score by Sergei Taneyev (1892), both published by P. Jurgenson in Moscow, and the Soviet collected edition of the composer's works, as reprinted Melville, New York: Belwin Mills [n.d.][20]

Scene No. English title French title Russian title Tempo indication Notes
Act I
Miniature Overture Ouverture miniature Увертюра Allegro giusto
Tableau I 1 Scene (The Christmas Tree) Scène (L'arbre de Noël) Сцена (Сцена украшения и зажигания ёлки) Allegro non troppo – Più moderato – Allegro vivace scene of decorating and lighting the Christmas tree
2 March Marche Марш Tempo di marcia viva
3 Children's Gallop and Dance of the Parents Petit galop des enfants et Entrée des parents Детский галоп и вход (танец) родителей Presto – Andante – Allegro
4 Dance Scene (Arrival of Drosselmeyer) Scène dansante Сцена с танцами Andantino – Allegro vivo – Andantino sostenuto – Più andante – Allegro molto vivace – Tempo di Valse – Presto Drosselmeyer's arrival and distribution of presents
5 Scene and Grandfather Waltz Scène et danse du Gross-Vater Сцена и танец Гросфатер Andante – Andantino – Moderato assai – Andante – L'istesso tempo – Tempo di Gross-Vater – Allegro vivacissimo
6 Scene (Clara and the Nutcracker) Scène Сцена Allegro semplice – Moderato con moto – Allegro giusto – Più allegro – Moderato assai departure of the guests
7 Scene (The Battle) Scène Сцена Allegro vivo
Tableau II 8 Scene (A Pine Forest in Winter) Scène Сцена Andante a.k.a. "Journey through the Snow"
9 Waltz of the Snowflakes Valse des flocons de neige Вальс снежных хлопьев Tempo di Valse, ma con moto – Presto
Act II
Tableau III 10 Scene (The Magic Castle in the Land of Sweets) Scène Сцена Andante introduction
11 Scene (Clara and Nutcracker Prince) Scène Сцена Andante con moto – Moderato – Allegro agitato – Poco più allegro – Tempo precedente arrival of Clara and the Prince
12 Divertissement
a. Chocolate (Spanish Dance)
b. Coffee (Arabian Dance)
c. Tea (Chinese Dance)
d. Candy Canes (Russian Dance)
e. Marzipan (Dance of the Reed Flutes)
f. Mother Ginger and the Polichinelles
 Divertissement
a. Le chocolat (Danse espagnole)
b. Le café (Danse arabe)
c. Le thé (Danse chinoise)
d. Trépak (Danse russe)
e. Les Mirlitons (Danse des Mirlitons)
f. La mère Gigogne et les polichinelles
 Дивертисмент
a. Шоколад (Испанский танец)
b. Кофе (Арабский танец)
c. Чай (Китайский танец)
d. Трепак (Русский танец)
e. Танец пастушков
f. Полишинели
Allegro brillante
Commodo
Allegro moderato
Tempo di trepak, molto vivace
Andantino
Allegro giocoso – Andante – Allegro vivo



e. a.k.a. "Dance of the Reed Pipes"
f. a.k.a. "Mother Ginger and Her Children", "Dance of the Clowns", or "Polichinelles"
13 Waltz of the Flowers Valse des fleurs Вальс цветов Tempo di Valse
14 Pas de Deux
Intrada (Sugar Plum Fairy and Her Cavalier)
Variation I: Tarantella
Variation II: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Coda
 Pas de deux
La Fée-Dragée et le Prince Orgeat
Variation I: Tarantelle (Pour le danseur)
Variation II: Danse de la Fée-Dragée (Pour la danseuse)
Coda
 Па-де-дё
Танец принца Оршада и Феи Драже
Вариация I: Тарантелла
Вариация II: Танец Феи Драже
Кода
Andante maestoso
Tempo di Tarantella
Andante ma non troppo – Presto
Vivace assai
a.k.a. "Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier"
for the male dancer
for the female dancer
15 Final Waltz and Apotheosis Valse finale et Apothéose Финальный вальс и Апофеоз Tempo di Valse – Molto meno

Instrumentation

Woodwinds
3 flutes (2nd & 3rd doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets in B♭ and A, bass clarinet in B♭ and A, and 2 bassoons
Brass
4 French horns in F, 2 trumpets in A and B♭, 3 trombones (2 tenor, 1 bass), and tuba
Percussion
timpani, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, triangle, tambourine, castanets, tam-tam, glockenspiel, and "toy instruments" (rattle, trumpet, drum, cuckoo, quail, cymbals, and rifle)
Keyboard
celesta
Voice
SA chorus
Strings
2 harps, first and second violins, violas, violoncellos, and double basses

Tchaikovsky's sources and influences

Ivan Vsevolozhsky's original costume sketch for The Nutcracker (1892)

The Nutcracker is one of the composer's most popular compositions. The music belongs to the Romantic Period and contains some of his most memorable melodies, several of which are frequently used in television and film. (They are often heard in TV commercials shown during the Christmas season.) The Trepak, or Russian dance, is one of the most recognizable pieces in the ballet, along with the famous Waltz of the Flowers and March, as well as the ubiquitous Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The ballet contains surprisingly advanced harmonies and a wealth of melodic invention that is (to many) unsurpassed in ballet music. Nevertheless, the composer's reverence for Rococo and late 18th-century music can be detected in passages such as the Overture, the "Entrée des parents", and "Tempo di Grossvater" in Act I.

Tchaikovsky is said to have argued with a friend who wagered that the composer could not write a melody based on the notes of the scale in an octave in sequence. Tchaikovsky asked if it mattered whether the notes were in ascending or descending order, and was assured it did not. This resulted in the Adagio from the Grand pas de deux, which, in the ballet, nearly always immediately follows the Waltz of the Flowers. A story is also told that Tchaikovsky's sister had died shortly before he began composition of the ballet, and that his sister's death influenced him to compose a melancholy, descending scale melody for the adagio of the Grand Pas de Deux.[21]

One novelty in Tchaikovsky's original score was the use of the celesta, a new instrument Tchaikovsky had discovered in Paris. He wanted it genuinely for the character of the Sugar Plum Fairy to characterize her because of its "heavenly sweet sound". It appears not only in her "Dance", but also in other passages in Act II. (However, he first wrote for the celesta in his symphonic ballad The Voyevoda the previous year.) Tchaikovsky also uses toy instruments during the Christmas party scene. Tchaikovsky was proud of the celesta's effect, and wanted its music performed quickly for the public, before he could be "scooped."

Although the original ballet is only about 85 minutes long if performed without applause or an intermission, and therefore much shorter than either Swan Lake or The Sleeping Beauty, some modern staged performances have omitted or re-ordered some of the music, or inserted selections from elsewhere, thus adding to the confusion over the suites. In fact, most of the very famous versions of the ballet have had the order of the dances slightly re-arranged, if they have not actually altered the music. For instance, the 1954 George Balanchine New York City Ballet version adds to Tchaikovsky's score an entr'acte that the composer wrote for Act II of The Sleeping Beauty, but which is now seldom played in productions of that ballet. It is used as a transition between the departure of the guests and the battle with the mice. Nearly all of the CD and LP recordings of the complete ballet present Tchaikovsky's score exactly as he originally conceived it.

Tchaikovsky was less satisfied with The Nutcracker than with The Sleeping Beauty. (In the film Fantasia, commentator Deems Taylor observes that he "really detested" the score.) Tchaikovsky accepted the commission from Vsevolozhsky but did not particularly want to write the ballet[22] (though he did write to a friend while composing it: "I am daily becoming more and more attuned to my task").[23]

Concert excerpts and arrangements

Tchaikovsky: Suite from the ballet The Nutcracker

Tchaikovsky made a selection of eight of the numbers from the ballet before the ballet's December 1892 première, forming The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a, intended for concert performance. The suite was first performed, under the composer's direction, on 19 March 1892 at an assembly of the St. Petersburg branch of the Musical Society.[24] The suite became instantly popular, with almost every number encored at its premiere,[25] while the complete ballet did not begin to achieve its great popularity until after the George Balanchine staging became a hit in New York City.[26] The suite became very popular on the concert stage, and was featured in Disney's Fantasia. The Nutcracker Suite should not be mistaken for the complete ballet. The outline below represents the selection and sequence of the Nutcracker Suite culled by the composer.

I. Miniature Overture
II. Danses caractéristiques
a. Marche
b. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy [ending altered from ballet-version]
c. Russian Dance (Trepak)
d. Arabian Dance
e. Chinese Dance
f. Reed Flutes
III. Waltz of the Flowers

Grainger: Paraphrase on Tchaikovsky’s Flower Waltz, for solo piano

The Paraphrase on Tchaikovsky’s Flower Waltz is a successful piano arrangement from one of the movements from The Nutcracker by the pianist and composer Percy Grainger.

Pletnev: Concert suite from The Nutcracker, for solo piano

The pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev adapted some of the music into a virtuosic concert suite for piano solo:

a. March
b. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
c. Tarantella
d. Intermezzo (Journey through the Snow)
e. Russian Trepak
f. Chinese Dance
g. Andante maestoso (Pas de Deux)

Selected discography

Many recordings have been made since 1909 of the Nutcracker Suite, which made its initial appearance on disc that year in what is now historically considered the first record album.[27] This recording was conducted by Herman Finck and featured the London Palace Orchestra.[28] But it was not until the LP album was developed that recordings of the complete ballet began to be made. Because of the ballet's approximate hour and a half length when performed without intermission, applause, or interpolated numbers, it fits very comfortably onto two LPs. Most CD recordings take up two discs, often with fillers. An exception is the 81-minute 1998 Philips recording by Valery Gergiev that fits onto one CD because of Gergiev's somewhat brisker speeds.

With the advent of the stereo LP coinciding with the growing popularity of the complete ballet, many other complete recordings of it have been made. Notable conductors who have done so include Maurice Abravanel, André Previn, Michael Tilson Thomas, Mariss Jansons, Seiji Ozawa, Richard Bonynge, Semyon Bychkov, Alexander Vedernikov, Ondrej Lenard, Mikhail Pletnev, and most recently, Simon Rattle.[36] A CD of excerpts from the Tilson Thomas version had as its album cover art a painting of Mikhail Baryshnikov in his Nutcracker costume; perhaps this was due to the fact that the Tilson Thomas recording was released by CBS Masterworks, and CBS had first telecast the Baryshnikov "Nutcracker".[37]

There have been two major theatrical film versions of the ballet, made within seven years of each other, and both were given soundtrack albums.

Neither Ormandy, Reiner, nor Fiedler ever recorded a complete version of the ballet; however, Kunzel's album of excerpts runs 73 minutes, containing more than two-thirds of the music. Conductor Neeme Järvi has recorded Act II of the ballet complete, along with excerpts from Swan Lake. The music is played by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.[41]

Contemporary arrangements

For a comprehensive list of stage, film and television adaptations of The Nutcracker, see: List of productions of The Nutcracker

Film

Several films having little or nothing to do with the ballet or the original Hoffmann tale have used its music:

Television

Video games

Children's recordings

There have been several recorded children's adaptations of the E.T.A. Hoffmann story (the basis for the ballet) using Tchaikovsky's music, some quite faithful, some not. One that was not was a version titled The Nutcracker Suite for Children, narrated by Metropolitan Opera announcer Milton Cross, which used a two-piano arrangement of the music. It was released as a 78-RPM album set in the 1940s.[60] For the children's label Peter Pan Records, actor Victor Jory narrated a condensed adaptation of the story with excerpts from the score. It was released on one side of a 45-RPM disc.[61] A later version, titled The Nutcracker Suite, starred Denise Bryer and a full cast, was released in the 1960s on LP and made use of Tchaikovsky's music in the original orchestral arrangements. It was quite faithful to Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, on which the ballet is based, even to the point of including the section in which Clara cuts her arm on the glass toy cabinet, and also mentioning that she married the Prince at the end. It also included a less gruesome version of "The Tale of the Hard Nut", the tale-within-a-tale in Hoffmann's story. It was released as part of the Tale Spinners for Children series.[62]

Another children's LP, The Nutcracker Suite with Words, featured Captain Kangaroo's Bob Keeshan narrating the story, and sung versions of the different movements, with special lyrics.[63]

Journalism

"That warm and welcoming veneer of domestic bliss in The Nutcracker gives the appearance that all is just plummy in the ballet world. But ballet is beset by serious ailments that threaten its future in this country... companies are so cautious in their programming that they have effectively reduced an art form to a rotation of over-roasted chestnuts that no one can justifiably croon about... The tyranny of The Nutcracker is emblematic of how dull and risk-averse American ballet has become. There were moments throughout the 20th century when ballet was brave. When it threw bold punches at its own conventions. First among these was the Ballets Russes period, when ballet – ballet – lassoed the avant-garde art movement and, with works such as Michel Fokine's fashionably sexy Scheherazade (1910) and Léonide Massine's Cubist-inspired Parade (1917), made world capitals sit up and take notice. Afraid of scandal? Not these free-thinkers; Vaslav Nijinsky's rough-hewn, aggressive Rite of Spring famously put Paris in an uproar in 1913... Where are this century's provocations? Has ballet become so entwined with its "Nutcracker" image, so fearfully wedded to unthreatening offerings, that it has forgotten how eye-opening and ultimately nourishing creative destruction can be?"[65]
— Sarah Kaufman, dance critic for The Washington Post
"ACT I of “The Nutcracker” ends with snow falling and snowflakes dancing. Yet The Nutcracker is now seasonal entertainment even in parts of America where snow seldom falls: Hawaii, the California coast, Florida. Over the last 70 years this ballet – conceived in the Old World – has become an American institution. Its amalgam of children, parents, toys, a Christmas tree, snow, sweets and Tchaikovsky’s astounding score is integral to the season of good will that runs from Thanksgiving to New Year... I am a European who lives in America, and I never saw any Nutcracker until I was 21. Since then I’ve seen it many times. The importance of this ballet to America has become a phenomenon that surely says as much about this country as it does about this work of art. So this year I’m running a Nutcracker marathon: taking in as many different American productions as I can reasonably manage in November and December, from coast to coast (more than 20, if all goes well). America is a country I’m still discovering; let The Nutcracker be part of my research."[69]
— Alastair Macauley, dance critic for The New York Times

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Anderson, J. (1958). The Nutcracker Ballet, New York: Mayflower Books.
  2. 1 2 Fisher, J. (2003). Nutcracker Nation: How an Old World Ballet Became a Christmas Tradition in the New World, New Haven: Yale University Press.
  3. ↑ Lauren, Gallagher (December 11, 2012). "S.F. Ballet presents the classiest 'Nutcracker' of all". The San Francisco Examiner.
  4. ↑ Daniel J., Wakin (November 30, 2009). "Coming Next Year: 'Nutcracker' Competition". The New York Times.
  5. ↑ Morin, A. (2001). The Third Ear Essential Listening Companion to Classical Music, Backbeat Books.
  6. 1 2 Hoffmann, E.T.A., Dumas, A., Neugroschel, J. (2007). Nutcracker and Mouse King, and the Tale of the Nutcracker, New York
  7. ↑ Rosenberg, Donald (22 November 2009). "Tchaikovsky's 'Nutcracker' a rite of winter thanks to its glorious music and breathtaking dances". Cleveland.com. Cleveland. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  8. ↑ "Tchaikovsky". Balletalert.com. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Nutcracker History". Balletmet.org. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
  10. 1 2 3 Fisher (2003): p. 15
  11. 1 2 Fisher (2003): p. 16
  12. ↑ Fisher (2003): p. 14-15
  13. ↑ Fisher (2003): p. 17
  14. ↑ Wiley, Roland John. (1991). Tchaikovsky's Ballets: Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  15. ↑ "Ballet Talk [Powered by Invision Power Board]". Ballettalk.invisionzone.com. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  16. ↑ Craine, Debra (8 December 2007). "Christmas cracker". The Times. London.
  17. ↑ "Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo records, 1935-1968 (MS Thr 463): Guide.".
  18. ↑ Soviet ed., where they are printed in the original French with added Russian translation in editorial footnotes)
  19. ↑ Wiley, 1991: p. 220.
  20. ↑ Tchaikovsky, P. (2004). The Nutcracker: Complete Score, Dover Publications.
  21. ↑ Nutcracker Nation: How an Old World ... – Google Books. Google Books. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  22. ↑ Tchaikovsky By David Brown W. W. Norton & Company, 1992 page 332
  23. ↑ "The KEZ Christmas Countdown: Day 19 - The Nutcracker | David Appleford - 550 KFYI - THE VALLEY'S MOST TRUSTED NEWS". Kfyi.com. 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  24. ↑ Alexander Poznansky, Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man, p. 544
  25. ↑ Brown, David. Tchaikovsky: The Final Years, 1885-1893. London, 1991; corrected edition 1992: p. 386
  26. ↑ "The Nutcracker Profile: The History of The Nutcracker". Classicalmusic.about.com. 11 June 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  27. ↑ "Recording Technology History". History.sandiego.edu. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
  28. ↑ Macaulay, Alastair. "'The Nutcracker' Chronicles: Listening to the Score".
  29. ↑ "Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Complete Ballet); Serenade for Strings - Credits on MSN Music". Music.msn.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  30. ↑ "Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Antal Dorati, Harold Lawrence, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Hungarica, London Symphony Orchestra Chorus - Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Complete Ballet); Serenade in C Major - Amazon.com Music".
  31. ↑ Styrous®. "The Styrous® Viewfinder".
  32. ↑ "Nutcracker". Classicalcdreview.com. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
  33. ↑ "Tchaikovsky / Artur Rodzinski, 1946: Щелкунчик / Nutcracker Suite, Part 1 - NYPO". YouTube. 2011-09-05. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  34. ↑ Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Ballet (1991-08-24). "Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Ballet: Tchaikovsky, Rodzinski, Phil Symphony Orchestra: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  35. ↑ "Tchaikovsky, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Bolshoi Theater Orchestra - Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Complete) - Amazon.com Music".
  36. ↑ "Tchaikovsky: the Nutcracker: Sir Simon Rattle, Tchaikovsky, Berliner Philharmoniker: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  37. ↑ "Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Michael Tilson Thomas, The Philharmonia Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers - Tchaikovsky: Music From The Nutcracker (Highlights) - Amazon.com Music".
  38. ↑ "The Nutcracker (1993 Motion Picture Soundtrack): Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, David Zinman, New York City Ballet Orchestra: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  39. ↑ http://www.americanrecordguide.com/issues/ARG1211.pdf
  40. ↑ "Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Complete): Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  41. ↑ "Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker, Act II/ Swan Lake". AllMusic.
  42. ↑ "Freddy Martin And His Orchestra - Tschaikowsky's Nutracker Suite In Dance Tempo". Discogs.
  43. ↑ "A Duke Ellington Panorama". Depanorama.net. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  44. ↑ "The Harlem Nutcracker". Susan Kuklin. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  45. ↑ "The New Nutcracker Suite and Other Innocent Verses: Ogden Nash, Ivan Chermayeff: Amazon.com: Books".
  46. ↑ Ogden Nash. "THE NEW NUTCRACKER SUITE & Other Innocent Verses". Kirkus Reviews.
  47. ↑ "blogcritics.org". blogcritics.org. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  48. ↑ "A Tribute to the Music of Tetris by Brado Popcorn on Apple Music".
  49. ↑ "Disney (All) The Nutcracker Suite/Dance Of The Hours – Sealed USA LP RECORD (284287)". Eil.com. 21 April 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  50. ↑ "Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite Also Ponchielli's Dance Of The Hours Philadelphia Orchestra Leopold Stokowski Conducting: Leopold Stokowski: Music". Amazon.com. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  51. ↑ "Santa and the Fairy Snow Queen : A Sid Davis Production : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive". Archive.org. 2001-03-10. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  52. ↑ daflauta (2 October 2001). "Barbie in the Nutcracker (Video 2001)". IMDb.
  53. ↑ Kit, Borys (March 4, 2016). "Lasse Hallstrom to Direct Live-Action 'Nutcracker' for Disney". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  54. ↑ ""General Electric Theater" Music for Christmas (TV Episode 1954)". IMDb. 19 December 1954.
  55. ↑ ""The Magic School Bus" The Family Holiday Special (TV Episode 1996)". IMDb. 25 December 1996.
  56. ↑ "The Simpsons: Simpsons Christmas Stories Episode Summary on". Tv.com. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  57. ↑ "Smurf Berry Crunch Cereal". MrBreakfast.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  58. ↑ "Super Mario Wiki/Figure Skating". Mariowiki.com. 2012-09-10. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  59. ↑ "GTA5 Classical horn 3". youtube.com. 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
  60. ↑ "Week 50". Kiddierecords.com. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  61. ↑ "11 The Nutcracker Suite : Victor Jory". SoundCloud.
  62. ↑ "Tale Spinners for Children". Artsreformation.com. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  63. ↑ Ronnie Falcao, LM MS. "The Nutcracker Suite with Words". Gentlebirth.org. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  64. ↑ Kaufman, Sarah (13 September 2009). "Here Come Those Sugar Plums and Chestnuts". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  65. 1 2 Kaufman, Sarah (22 November 2009). "Breaking pointe: 'The Nutcracker' takes more than it gives to world of ballet". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  66. ↑ Itzkoff, Dave (14 December 2009). "Sugar Plum Overdose: The Case Against 'The Nutcracker'". The Washington Post. New York City. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  67. ↑ Macauley, Alastair (16 November 2010). "A 'Nutcracker' Lover Explains Himself". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  68. ↑ Macauley, Alastair (10 November 2010). "The 'Nutcracker' Chronicles: The Marathon Begins". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  69. ↑ Macauley, Alastair (10 November 2010). "The Sugarplum Diet". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
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