Ballet in two acts by Pyotr I’ič Tchaikovsky, from the short story Nußknacker und Mausekönig by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann
Armenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre
Conductor
Karen Durgaryan
Choreographer
Georgy Kovtun da Marius Petipa
Set and costume design
Vyacheslav Okunev
Orchestra, treble choir and technicians from Opera Carlo Felice Genova
Treble choirmaster Gino Tanasini
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet dating back to the early 1890s. Tchaikovsky composed it based on the short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann, as well as Dumas’ The Story of a Nutcracker, itself taken from Hoffman. Working alongside the composer were the choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Tchaikovsky had already experimented with ballet composition with Swan Lake, 1875-6, and The Sleeping Beauty, 1889; titles that are well known today but not fully understood during the composer’s lifetime. The first performance of The Nutcracker was also not very successful, while the first performance of the orchestral suite from the ballet immediately won over the audience at the premiere on 7 March 1892. The now-famous story traces the adventures of little Clara, who receives a nutcracker in the shape of a toy soldier as a gift during a Christmas party. During the night, the little girl dreams of incredible adventures: alongside the toy soldier, animated and transformed into a prince, she will defeat the fearsome Mouse King, together they will then go on to the Kingdom of Sweets, of which they will become rulers. Among the most fascinating aspects of the ballet are the music by Tchaikovsky – whose musical sensibility was particularly akin to the fairy-tale dimension that characterises The Nutcracker – and the great harmony between music, choreographic expressiveness and narration.
