Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

About this event

Because of Tchaikovsky’s imaginative music, “The Nutcracker” is one of the most popular works of the ballet repertoire, instantly bringing to mind scenes of a splendidly decorated Christmas room, dancing snowflakes and the waltz of the flowers. The plot of “The Nutcracker” is based on a novella by E.T.A. Hoffmann, one of the most famous writers of German Romanticism. While Hoffmann’s masterful fairy tale virtuously jumps back and forth from a dream to reality, its adaptation as a ballet libretto by Alexandre Dumas and Marius Petipa it lost much of its dark romantic fantasy.

Christian Spuck attempts to distance himself from the Dumas/Petipas version in his choreography and puts the literary origin at the heart of his ballet. This emphasizes the fantastical nature of the original story rather than the delightful Christmas fairytale, and brings back the tale of the princess Pirlipat, who turns into a nut monster, as told by E.T.A. Hoffmann. In Rufus Didwiszus’ stage setting, the workshop of the godfather Drosselmeier turns into an old revue-theater, where the characters of the ballet come to life. Spucks’ choreography plays with the richness of characters in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s narrative cosmos, as well as the absurdity and overwrought humour that inhabit them while at the same time looking down into the dark abyss of Romanticism.

A production of Accentus Music in co-production with NHK, in co-operation with 3sat and Opernhaus Zürich.

Programme

• 1. Concert – approx. 110 min programme

Repertoire

1. Tchaikovsky: Shchelkunchik (The Nutcracker) op. 71 TH 14