Composer: Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Neeme Järvi
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Size: 1.39 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
The Nutcracker, Op. 71
Ballet féerique in Two Acts
Ouverture
01. Ouverture. Allegro giusto
Act I
Tableau I
02. Scène. Allegro non troppo – Poco più sostenuto – Tempo I – Più moderato – Allegro vivace – Meno –
03. Marche. Tempo di Marcia viva
04. Petit galop des enfants et Entrée des parents. Presto – Andante – Allegro –
05. Scène dansante. Andantino – Stringendo – Allegro vivo – Andantino sostenuto – Più andante – Allegro molto vivace – Molto più presto – Tempo di Valse (Pas de Deux) – Presto –
06. Scene et Danse du Gross-Vater. Andante (Tempo di Valse) – Poco animando – Tempo I – Andantino – Tempo I – Piu allegro – Tempo I – Piu mosso – Moderato assai – Andante – L’istesso tempo (La Berceuse) – Piu mosso – Tempo I – Piu mosso – L’istesso tempo – Tempo di Gross-Vater – Allegro vivacissimo – Tempo I
07. Scène. Allegro semplice – Moderato con moto – Allegro giusto – Più allegro – Moderato assai –
08. Scène. Allegro vivo – Pochissimo più mosso – La Bataille – La Seconde Bataille
Tableau II
09. Scène. Andante
10. Valse des Flocons de neige. Tempo di Valse, ma con moto – Presto – Poco meno
Act II
11. Scène. Andante –
12. Scène. Andante con moto – Un poco animando – Moderato – Allegro agitato – Poco più allegro – Tempo precedente [Allegro agitato]
Divertissement
13. a) Le Chocolat. Allegro brillante – Più mosso
14. b) Le Café. Commodo
15. c) Le Thé. Allegro moderato
16. d) Trépak. Tempo di Trepak, molto vivace – Stringendo – Prestissimo
17. e) Les Mirlitons. Moderato assai
18. f) La Mère Gigogne et les polichinelles. Allegro giocoso – Allegro vivo – Poco più
19. Valse des Fleurs. Tempo di Valse
20. Pas de Deux. Andante maestoso – Poco stringendo – Poco più mosso – Incalzando – Animando – Ritenuto – Tempo I – Poco stringendo – Tempo I
21. Variation I (Pour le danseur). Tempo di Tarantella –
22. Variation II (Pour la danseuse). Danse de la Fée-Dragée. Andante non troppo – Presto –
23. Coda. Vivace assai
24. Valse finale et Apothéose. Tempo di Valse – Molto meno – L’Apothéose
Recorded: Grieghallen, Bergen, Norway, 9-12 December 2013
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 (CHSA 5113(2)) and Swan Lake (CHSA 5124 (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’, i.e. ‘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.