In 1891, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky began composing a ballet based on the scenario of E.T.A. Hoffmann's tale, "The Nutcracker and The King of the Mice." Commissioned by the Imperial Ballet in St.Peterburg, Tchaikovsky was required to compose music that met the strict requirements established by the ballet's choreographer, Marius Petipa.
The scenario was written by Ivan Alexandrovitch Vsevolojsky, the theater's director. Vsevolojsky simplified Hoffman's tale by softening its darker elements. Though Marius Petipa planned the choreography, an illness later forced him to turn it over to his assistant, Lev Ivanov, for completion.
The author Hoffman was born in Prussia and studied law. The arts were his true passion. In fact, he even changed one of his middle names from Wilhelm to Amadeus in tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Hoffmann founded an orchestra in Warsaw, was musical director of several theaters, and composed two symphonies and ten operas. Under the pseudonym of Johannes Kreisler, he wrote music criticism.
The romantic fairy tales he wrote combined flights of fancy with the grotesque. "The Nutcracker and the King of the Mice" was written in 1816 and published in a children's collection of stories. Alexandre Dumas (the elder) popularized the tale with a French adaptation called "The Nutcracker of Nuremberg."
Tchaikovsky, like Hoffmann, also attended law school (he once was clerk in the Russian Ministry of Justice) and regarded Mozart as his favorite composer.
As he was with many of his compositions, Tchaikovsky was disappointed with The Nutcracker.
Writing to his brother, Modest, he said, "And now it is finished. 'Casse-Noisette' is all ugliness."
The Nutcracker was the third and final ballet Tchaikovsky composed. Swan Lake was his first effort and Sleeping Beauty, his second. He died in the year that followed The Nutcracker's premiere.
Popular as the other two are, The Nutcracker has succeeded in capturing the imagination and hearts of dance lovers around the world. Its essence is magic, wonder, enchantment, and dream--a spell that springs unheralded from ordinary circumstances, taking all by surprise.
Nutcracker interpretations vary widely from company to company. Even the heroine's name differs. In Hoffmann's tale, she is Marie, and one of her dolls is named Clara. In Dumas' story, she is called Mary. In the New York City Ballet version, she is Maria, but in most productions, as in the Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre productions, she is Clara.
The version closest to the original tale is performed by the Royal Ballet produced in 1984 by Peter Wright. It has been aired on the Arts and Entertainment Network. Featured in this performance are Lesley Collier as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Anthony Dowell as Prince Koklush, Michael Coleman as Herr Drosselmeyer, Guy Niblett as the nephew Drosselmeyer, and Julie Rose as Clara. This production features the dancing of youths as well as adults and is superbly
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