The Nutcracker: Tchaikovsky - The Bolshoi Ballet

Tchaikovsky composed The Nutcracker during four months in 1891. A large part of the ballet was written at sea on a journey from Europe to the United States. Perhaps the most beloved of all ballets, The Nutcracker had its premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1892.

Based on Hoffman's fairy tale, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, the beloved classical ballet takes place one Christmas Eve in a nineteenth century Russian town. Uncle Drosselmeyer, a conj8urer and magician, delights the entire family with tricks and magic gifts. He gives Marie, his young niece, a rather plain-looking doll in a red uniform. Marie loves the doll which has an unusual mouth ("