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Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker

£13.88

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Label: Chandos

Cat No: CHSA5144

Barcode: 0095115514429

Format: Hybrid SACD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Ballet

Release Date: 3rd November 2014

Works

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich

The Nutcracker, op.71

Artists

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor

Neeme Jarvi

Works

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich

The Nutcracker, op.71

Artists

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor

Neeme Jarvi

About

This is the concluding recording in Neeme Järvi’s series with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra devoted to Tchaikovsky’s three great ballets. This complete, uncut version of The Nutcracker follows The Sleeping Beauty (CHSA5113(2)) and Swan Lake (CHSA5124 (2)), both of which have been much awarded.

The Nutcracker draws its influences from both Hoffmann’s and Dumas’s tales of the same name, and makes delightful use of ‘le joli’, ie ‘the pretty’, in music – vivacious themes decked out in ingenious orchestration – already mastered by Léo Delibes in Coppélia.

The Nutcracker relates the dreams of Clara Silberhaus on Christmas Eve, aroused by the nutcracker which her mysterious godfather has given her. Then the guests’ lulling and languishing waltzes take her on a fantastic journey from a mystical snowy forest to the princely kingdom of Confiturembourg. Tchaikovsky illustrates this journey with various musical themes, such as confectionary, flowers and Mirlitons, as well as Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian dances.

Commissioned by the director of the Imperial Theatres, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, and originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, The Nutcracker was premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg in 1892. It came in a double bill with the opera Iolanta, also commissioned by Vsevolozhsky.

For this recording, Neeme Järvi and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra have re-explored Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece together, in order to offer a completely new experience of one of the most-performed ballets in musical history.

Sound/Video

Paused

1

The Nutcracker Act 1 - Overture
2

The Nutcracker Act 1 - Decoration of the Christmas Tree
3

The Nutcracker Act 1 - March
4

The Nutcracker Act 1 - Departure of the Guests, Night
5

The Nutcracker Act 1 - The Battle and Transformation Square
6

The Nutcracker Act 1 - The Forest of Fir Trees in Winter
7

The Nutcracker Act 1 - Waltz of the Snowflakes
8

The Nutcracker Act 2 - The Enchanted Palace of the Kingdom of Sweets
9

The Nutcracker Act 2 - Divertissement: Chocolate
10

The Nutcracker Act 2 - Divertissement: Coffee
11

The Nutcracker Act 2 - Divertissement: Tea
12

The Nutcracker Act 2 - Divertissement: Trepak
13

The Nutcracker Act 2 - Divertissement: Dance of the Toy Flutes
14

The Nutcracker Act 2 - Divertissement: Mother Gigogne and the Clowns
15

The Nutcracker Act 2 - Waltz of the Flowers
16

The Nutcracker Act 2 - The Prince and the Sugar-Plum Fairy
17

The Nutcracker Act 2 - Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy
18

The Nutcracker Act 2 - Final Waltz and Apotheosis

Europadisc Review

The first staging of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker in December 1892 may have been less than a rousing success (paired with the one-act lyric opera Iolanta), but in the following hundred years or so it has become a Christmas staple, delighting generations of ballet-goers and music-lovers. This lively new recording from Neeme Järvi and the Bergen Philharmonic forms the timely culmination of his much-admired complete Tchaikovsky ballet cycle on the Chandos label. And, if you'll excuse the seasonal pun, it's a real cracker.

The Overture is bracing and delightfully sprung, with pert contributions from woodwind and horns. After a bustling but poised account of the March there's a festive air to the entrances of the party guests and the opening of presents, with alert input from the percussion section, and a tangible sense of rising symphonic drama after the departure of the guests and throughout the incisive battle between the mice and the Nutcracker's forces. The transition to the winter pine forest is exquisitely handled by Järvi, radiantly preparing the way for the magical delights of Act 2, with an exceptionally light touch in the Waltz of the Snowflakes and lovely vocals from the Bergen Pikekor and Gutterkor.

With Act 2 we arrive at the at the enchanted palace of Confiturembourg, and Järvi coaxes some gorgeously delicate textures from his Bergen forces in setting the scene. The famous set-pieces of the Divertissement prove tremendously characterful in this performance, with every section of the orchestra at its best, not least the trio of flutes in the delightful dance of the shepherdesses, while the horns excel themselves in a ravishing Waltz of the Flowers. It's always a treat to hear these famous movements in their proper order rather than that of the often-performed concert suite, and particularly – following the impassioned pas de deux – the Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy with its original enchanting Presto conclusion. Järvi hits just the right tone between exultation and spellbound simplicity for the concluding waltz-apotheosis, a perfect ending to one of the finest Nutcrackers currently available, all captured on a single disc but with not a hint of being rushed in any way.

The recording, made in Bergen's Grieg Hall, is of demonstration quality, and the presentation is exemplary, with extensive notes by David Nice including detailed synopses of each number, allowing the listener to follow every step of the action. In summary, this would make an ideal stocking-filler this Christmas for children of all ages – or just treat yourself!