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E. T. A. Hoffmann | 96 pages | 06 Nov 2014 | Penguin USA | 9780143122500 | English | New York, United States The Nutcracker® | New York City

The Nutcracker libretto is adapted from E. Hoffmann 's story " The Nutcracker and the Mouse King ". Although the original production was not a success, the minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. However, the complete Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late The Nutcracker and is now performed by countless ballet companies, primarily during the Christmas season, especially in North America. Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions. Among other things, the score is noted for its use of the celestaan instrument that the composer had already employed in his much lesser known symphonic ballad The Voyevoda. After the success of The Sleeping Beauty inIvan Vsevolozhskythe 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 The Nutcracker with Marius Petipa, with whom he had collaborated on The Sleeping Beauty. The material Petipa chose was an adaptation of E. Hoffmann's tale contains a long flashback story within its main plot titled "The Tale of the Hard Nut", which explains how the Prince The Nutcracker turned into the Nutcracker. This had to be excised for the ballet. Petipa gave Tchaikovsky extremely detailed instructions for the composition of each number, down to the tempo and number of bars. Although the libretto was by Marius Petipawho exactly choreographed the first production has been debated. Petipa began work on the choreography in August ; however, illness removed him from its completion and his assistant of seven years, Lev Ivanovwas The Nutcracker in. The Nutcracker Ivanov is often credited as the choreographer, The Nutcracker contemporary accounts credit Petipa. Unlike in many later productions, the children's roles were performed by real children — students of the Imperial Ballet School in Saint Petersburgwith Belinskaya as The Nutcracker, and Vassily Stukolkin as Fritz — rather than adults. The first performance of The Nutcracker was not deemed a success. While some critics praised Dell'Era on her pointework as the Sugar Plum Fairy she allegedly received five curtain-callsone critic called her "corpulent" and "podgy". 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 The Nutcracker — quite amateurish. The libretto was criticized as "lopsided" [10] and for not being faithful to the Hoffmann tale. Much of the criticism focused on the featuring of children so prominently in the ballet, [11] 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. Some critics called it "astonishingly The Nutcracker in detailed inspiration" and "from beginning to end, beautiful, melodious, original, and characteristic". Inchoreographer Alexander Gorsky staged a production which eliminated the Sugar Plum Fairy and her The Nutcracker and gave their dances to Clara and , who were played by adults instead of children. This was the first production to The Nutcracker so. An abridged version of the ballet was first performed outside Russia in Budapest Royal Opera House inwith choreography by Ede Brada. The Nutcracker Vainonen version influenced several later productions. The first complete performance The Nutcracker Russia took place in England in[8] staged by Nicholas Sergeyev after Petipa's original choreography. Annual performances of the ballet have been staged there since It has been performed every year since by the Christensen-founded Ballet West. Since Gorsky, Vainonen and Balanchine's productions, many other choreographers have made their own versions. Some institute the changes made by Gorsky and Vainonen The Nutcracker others, like Balanchine, utilize the original libretto. In recent years, revisionist productions, including those by Mark MorrisMatthew Bourneand Mikhail Chemiakin have appeared; these depart radically from both the original 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 or released The Nutcracker home video. The following extrapolation of the characters in order of appearance is drawn from an examination of the stage directions in the score. Below is The Nutcracker synopsis based on the original libretto by Marius Petipa. The story varies from The Nutcracker to production, though most follow the basic outline. The names The Nutcracker the characters also vary. In the adaptation by Dumas on which Petipa based his libretto, The Nutcracker name is Marie The Nutcracker. 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. 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. 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. The other children ignore it, but Clara immediately takes a liking to it. Fritz, however, breaks it, and Clara is heartbroken. During the night, after everyone else has gone to bed, Clara returns to the parlor to check on her beloved nutcracker. The Nutcracker she reaches the little bed, the clock strikes midnight and she looks up to see The Nutcracker 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. The mice begin to eat the gingerbread soldiers. The nutcracker The Nutcracker to lead the soldiers, who are joined by tin soldiersand The Nutcracker dolls who serve The Nutcracker 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. The mice retreat and the nutcracker is transformed into a handsome Prince. The Nutcracker recounts for her how he had been saved from the Mouse The Nutcracker by Clara and transformed back into himself. In honor The Nutcracker the young heroine, a celebration of sweets from around the world is produced: chocolate from Spain, coffee from Arabia, [27] [28] tea from China, [29] and candy canes from Russia [30] all The Nutcracker for their amusement; Danish shepherdesses perform on their flutes; [31] Mother Ginger has her The Nutcracker, the Polichinelles, emerge from under her enormous hoop skirt to dance; a string of beautiful flowers perform a waltz. 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 Nutcracker original libretto, the ballet's apotheosis The Nutcracker a large beehive with flying bees, closely guarding their riches". 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. Tchaikovsky is said to have argued with a friend who wagered that the composer could not write The Nutcracker melody based on a one-octave scale 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 deuxwhich, 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. One novelty in Tchaikovsky's original score was the The Nutcracker of the celestaa new instrument Tchaikovsky had discovered in Paris. He wanted it genuinely The Nutcracker 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 The Nutcracker 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". 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 Beautybut some modern staged The Nutcracker have omitted or re-ordered some of the music or inserted selections from elsewhere, thus adding to the confusion over the suites. 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. In the film Fantasiacommentator Deems Taylor observes that he "really detested" the score. Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker the commission from Vsevolozhsky but did not particularly want to write the ballet [39] though he did write to a friend while composing it, "I am daily becoming more and more attuned to my task". The music is written for an orchestra with the following instrumentation. Titles of all of the numbers listed here come from Marius Petipa's original scenario The Nutcracker well as the original libretto and The Nutcracker of the first production of 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. List of acts, scenes tableaux and musical numbers, The Nutcracker with tempo indications. Numbers are given according to the original Russian and French titles of the first edition scorethe piano reduction score by Sergei Taneyevboth published by P. The suite was first performed, under the composer's direction, on 19 March at an assembly of the Saint Petersburg branch of the Musical Society. The Nutcracker Suite should not be mistaken for the complete ballet. The outline below The Nutcracker the selection and sequence of the Nutcracker Suite culled by the composer. 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. The pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev adapted some of the music into a virtuosic concert suite for piano solo:. Many recordings have been made since of the Nutcracker Suitewhich made its initial appearance on The Nutcracker that year in what is now historically considered the first record album. Because of the ballet's approximate hour and a half length when performed without intermission, applause, or interpolated numbers, it fits The Nutcracker comfortably The Nutcracker two LPs. Most CD recordings take up two discs, often with fillers. An exception is the minute Philips recording by Valery Gergiev that fits onto one CD because of Gergiev's somewhat brisker speeds. With the advent of the stereo The Nutcracker coinciding with the growing popularity of the complete ballet, many other complete recordings of The Nutcracker have been The Nutcracker. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms () - IMDb

Add to the fun The Nutcracker a gift basket or party platter. Follow Moscow Ballet's Instagram and Facebook to stay up-to-date with our dancers! Early critics liked only the music. Petersburg, Russia. The battle scene was called clumsy, the costumes were described as dull, and the The Nutcracker Plum Fairy was dissed as chubby our word, not theirs. But the music — oh, that The Nutcracker music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky — got rave reviews. And it still does. His first was at age 7, before he had even started ballet classes. Read More. Moscow Ballet engages communities in many ways. Moscow Ballet brings Community Engagement programs to American and Canadian children which are led by the multi-talented Audition Directors. Reach out to Moscow Ballet to set up a program in your community! Community Engagement since Musical Wunderkind — Strings Ballerinas perform side by side with pre-professional Concerto Competition musiciansto St. Kids and grown-ups! Check out our online shop! Moscow Ballet's exclusive line of limited The Nutcracker Russian Nutcrackers bring a piece of the annual Great Russian Nutcracker performance to you! See Great Russian Nutcracker and other The Nutcracker ' historical photos in our gallery. Keep Up With Moscow The Nutcracker. Gift store Check out our online shop! Expansive…brimful with The Nutcracker elegantly generous! Hot ticket The Nutcracker - Tchaikovsky Research

As IMDb celebrates its 30th birthday, we have six shows to get you ready for those pivotal years of your life Get some streaming picks. The Nutcracker Christmas Eve, a little girl named Marie Cohen falls asleep after a party at her home and dreams herself or does she? Her beloved Nutcracker Culkin comes to life and defends her from the Mouse King, then is turned into a Prince after Marie saves his life. Written by Anonymous. I'd seen parts of this production before but I wanted to refresh my initial reactions and see if they The Nutcracker correct. I think they were! I've always thought Balanchine was very old-fashioned in his attitudes, particularly in the ballerina-and-her-cavalier prototype. But this is, of course, what Russian ballet is all about. I was mostly interested in seeing if Balanchine would keep the music The Nutcracker to speed and I find he has. After seeing the traditional performances where everything is slowed down to a glacial The Nutcracker to accommodate the dancers, this is most refreshing and as a record The Nutcracker Mr. B's approach, this video production is invaluable. Others have mentioned the music-tampering but this is not unusual in the dance world or even in Balanchine. One glaring example of this is his "" where Tchaikovsky's last two movements are reversed; the "Elegy" is the last thing heard instead of the fast finale. In all fairness, Balanchine assumed that his own works would be forgotten with time and would not become the monuments they have. Is the 12 year old Culkin as bad as all that? In context, his star power has proved a liability here and this is at least partly due to his The Nutcracker awkwardness in the nephew-prince role. Smiling or smirking professionally in that dreadful pink Lord Fauntleroy suit he can often look downright sinister. He The Nutcracker used that quality in "Party Monster" for example. And, with almost nothing to do except lend his presence to the second part, whenever they show him in passing I find the effect jarring. Mack aside, the photography is good in general though awkward in the pan-and-scan version close-ups. The narration really shouldn't have happened but it's not too disturbing. Watch your fingers! The second side is the letterboxed one which I think is more successful than The Nutcracker pan-and-scan first side. The extras are informative but sparse. Looking for something to watch? Choose an adventure below and discover your next favorite movie or TV show. Visit our What to Watch page. Sign In. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Full Cast and Crew. Release Dates. Official Sites. Company Credits. Technical Specs. Plot Summary. Plot Keywords. Parents Guide. External Sites. User Reviews. User Ratings. External Reviews. Metacritic Reviews. Photo Gallery. Trailers and Videos. Crazy The Nutcracker. Alternate Versions. Rate This. Director: Emile Ardolino. Writer: Susan Cooper narration. Available on Amazon. Added to Watchlist. Favourite Movies. Childhood hits. Share this Rating Title: The Nutcracker 5. Use the HTML below. You The Nutcracker be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Best movies about toys coming to life. Edit Cast Cast The Nutcracker, first billed only: The Nutcracker Kistler The Sugarplum Fairy Dewdrop Wendy Whelan Coffee Margaret The Nutcracker Marzipan Gen Horiuchi Tea Tom Gold Hot Chocolate Nilas Martins Hot Chocolate William Otto Mother Ginger Peter Reznick Fritz Karin von Aroldingen Grandparent Edward The Nutcracker Grandparent Heather Watts Frau Stahlbaum Robert LaFosse Edit Storyline On Christmas Eve, a little girl named Marie The Nutcracker falls asleep after a party The Nutcracker her home and dreams herself or does she? Edit Did You Know? Quotes [ first lines ] Narrator : This is the Stahlbaums' house. These are their children, Marie and Fritz. It was Christmas Eve, when there was always a The Nutcracker family party. The children had been waiting and waiting for their guests to arrive. The house was full of rich, wonderful smells of baking, chocolate, and peppermint sticks. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report this. Add the first question. Language: English. Runtime: 92 min. Sound Mix: Dolby. Color: Color Technicolor. Edit page. October Streaming Picks. Back to School Picks. Clear your history. The Sugarplum Fairy. The Sugarplum Fairy's Cavalier. Hot Chocolate. Mother Ginger. Frau The Nutcracker.