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The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
This article is about the ballet and the music by Tchaikovsky. For other uses, see The
Nutcracker (disambiguation).
"The Nutcracker Suite" redirects here. For the albums, see The Nutcracker Suite (Tim Sparks
album) and The Nutcracker Suite (Duke Ellington album). For other uses, seeNutcracker
(disambiguation).
Ballets and revivals of Marius Petipa
The Nutcracker (Russian: , - / Shchelkunchik, Baletfeyeriya; French: Casse-Noisette, ballet-ferie) is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed
by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (op. 71).
Thelibretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It was
given its premire 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 the U.S.[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.
Contents
[hide]
1 Composition
2 History
o
3 Roles
o
3.1 Act I
3.2 Act II
4 Synopsis
5 The music
5.2 Structure
5.3 Instrumentation
5.5.3 Pletnev: Concert suite from The Nutcracker, for solo piano
6.1 Film
6.2 Television
6.5 Journalism
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
Composition[edit]
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 pre 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 entitled 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[edit]
Ballets by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
V
T
E
(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 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[edit]
Main article: List of productions of The Nutcracker
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 ofThe 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 theBirmingham 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[edit]
Olga Preobrazhenskaya 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[edit]
Dr. Stahlbaum
His wife
Fritz, son
Children Guests
Drosselmeyer
His nephew (in some versions) who resembles the Nutcracker Prince and is
played by the same dancer
Dolls (spring-activated, sometimes all three dancers instead):
Nutcracker (3rd gift, at first a normal-sized toy, then full-sized and "speaking", then a
Prince)
Mice
Hare-Drummers
Mouse King
Snowflakes
Act II[edit]
Angels
Clara
Nutcracker Prince
12 Pages
Danish Shepherdesses
Mother Ginger
Dewdrop
Flowers
Synopsis[edit]
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 (Klrchen) 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 night's festivities. Once the tree is finished, the children
are sent for. They stand in awe of the tree sparkling with candles and decorations.
The festivities begin. 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, purposely
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 the Mouse King. The mice begin to eat the gingerbread soldiers.
The nutcracker appears to lead the gingerbread soldiers, who are joined by tin soldiers 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
the Prince's place until his return. He recounts for her how he had been saved by Clara from
the Mouse King and had been transformed back into a Prince.
In honor of the young heroine, a celebration of sweets from around the world is produced:
chocolate from Spain, coffee from Arabia, and tea from China all dance for their amusement;
candy canes from Russia; Danish shepherdesses perform on their flutes; Mother Ginger has
her children, the Polichinelles, emerge from under her enormous 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 Clara and the Prince are crowned
rulers of the Land of Sweets.
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[edit]
From the Imperial Ballet's 1892 program[edit]
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.
Act I
Act II
01 Petite ouverture
05 Entre de Drosselmeyer
Grand divertissement
14 "Chocolat"Danse espagnole
15 "Caf"Danse arabe
16 "Th"Danse chinoise
17 Danse des Bouffons
18 Danse des mirlitons
19 La mre Gigogne et les polichinelles
20 Grand ballabile
07 Le Casse-NoisettePolka et la berceuse
08 Danse "Grovater"
11 Le voyage
21 Pas de deux
a. Grand adage
b. Variation de Prince Coqueluche (M. Pavel Ge
c. Variation de la Fe-Drage (Mlle. Antoinetta
Era)
d. Coda
22 Coda gnrale