The Vainonen version influenced several later productions. 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. An abridged version of the ballet was first performed outside Russia in Budapest (Royal Opera House) in 1927, with choreography by Ede Brada. 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. Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg, c. 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. But this also was not unanimous, as some critics found the party scene "ponderous" and the Grand Pas de Deux "insipid". Some critics called it "astonishingly rich in detailed inspiration" and "from beginning to end, beautiful, melodious, original, and characteristic". Reception was better for Tchaikovsky's score. Some found the transition between the mundane world of the first scene and the fantasy world of the second act too abrupt. Much of the criticism focused on the featuring of children so prominently in the ballet, 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). The libretto was criticized as "lopsided" and for not being faithful to the Hoffmann tale. Disorderly pushing about from corner to corner and running backwards and forwards – quite amateurish." Īlexandre Benois described the choreography of the battle scene as confusing: "One can not understand anything. Olga Preobrajenskaya as the Columbine doll was panned by one critic as "completely insipid" and praised as "charming" by another. 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". The reaction to the dancers themselves was ambivalent. The first performance of The Nutcracker was not deemed a success. Varvara Nikitina as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Pavel Gerdt as the Cavalier, in a later performance in the original run of The Nutcracker, 1892 Tchaikovsky composed parts of The Nutcracker in Rouen, France. 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. Petipa gave Tchaikovsky extremely detailed instructions for the composition of each number, down to the tempo and number of bars. 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. The plot of Hoffmann's story (and Dumas' adaptation) was greatly simplified for the two-act ballet. Hoffmann's story " The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", by Alexandre Dumas called "The Story of a Nutcracker". The material Petipa chose was an adaptation of E. For the ballet, Tchaikovsky would again join forces with Marius Petipa, with whom he had collaborated on The Sleeping Beauty. 8.3 Pletnev: Concert suite from The Nutcracker, for solo pianoĪfter 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.8.2 Grainger: Paraphrase on Tchaikovsky's Flower Waltz, for solo piano.8.1 Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op.7.1 From the Imperial Ballet's 1892 program.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. Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions. The ballet's score has been used in several film adaptations of Hoffmann's story. Major American ballet companies generate around 40% of their annual ticket revenues from performances of The Nutcracker. 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. Hoffmann's 1816 short story " The Nutcracker and the Mouse King".Īlthough the original production was not a success, the 20-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. info)) is an 1892 two-act ballet (" fairy ballet" Russian: балет-феерия, balet-feyeriya), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Op.
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