jmc's classics
During Christmas time one of the pieces that we here a lot is the Nutcracker Ballet by Tchaikovsky(Opus#71). It is one of the most iconic pieces of music from any genre. One of the more famous pieces is the "Waltz of the Flowers". other scenes are "Dance of the Sugar Plum Ferry". It has been used in countless movie scores and commercials.
I remember when I was 11, I got to see a production of it at Powell Hall. I remember seeing it on TV when I was around five and a few years later seeing a children's book on the Nutcracker. It is featured at many children's concerts. The plot centers around a little girl who is given a toy nutcracker at Christmas during a Christmas Eve party. Her brother does some damage to the nutcracker. She becomes angry. She has a dream about the nutcracker doing battle with the Mouse King. that is a synopsis of the plot. The fact that it is on Christmas Eve is the only thing that I see that it has to do with Christmas. It is based on a story by German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann(1776-1822) His stories are the basis of the opera "The Tales of Hoffmann by French composer Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880). Much of Hoffmann's stories are gothic in nature and more suited for Halloween than Christmas. It first premiered on December 6, 1892 at the Mariinsky theatre in St. Petersburgh along with Tchaikovsky's last opera Iolanta (Opus#69). It was not a success at first. Tchaikovsky's other ballets are The Sleeping Beauty (Opus#66) and Swan Lake (Opus#20). They are still as popular as Nutcracker. I enjoy the music from all three ballets. I am not in to Ballet lessons. I never took them. Charles Dutoit has made recordings of recordings of Nutccker and Sleeping Beauty with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
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