Tchaikovsky Nutcracker

Tchaikovsky - Nutcracker: The Story of Clara (1994)
Graeme Murphy (choreography) - The Australian Ballet - The State Orchestra of Victoria - Noel Smith (conductor)
Ballet | DVDrip | AVI | XviD 1559 kbps | 720 x 576 | 25 fps | MP3 183 kbps VBR | Subtitles: none | 1h 52min | 1400 MB

This is no ordinary Nutcracker; it is a quintessentially Australian reinterpretation created by the incomparable Graeme Murphy, who was for many years the driving spirit of the Sydney Dance Company. It is a reinterpretation that celebrates the history of ballet in Australia, and of the Australian Ballet itself with its links to the great Russian ballet tradition.

Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, which has its origins in a novella by E. T. A. Hoffmann, contains some of the best-loved music ever written. But its composer wasn’t very happy with it, perhaps because the plot he was given to work with allowed him to present only a series of dances, losing the moral basis of Hoffman’s surprisingly modern tale, with its messages of inclusivity and what is now called ‘women’s agency’ – here it is the little girl who saves the prince. Hoffmann’s aspirational story continues well after the ballet ends, with the little girl, now grown up, marrying the prince, who is now king. John Mauceri has brought the ballet back to its inspiration, calling on music from elsewhere in Tchaikovsky’s orchestral output to fashion this ‘re-telling’, marrying Hoffmann’s text and Tchaikovsky’s music for the first time.

Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and during World War II he conducted at the Berlin State Opera. Generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, he was a controversial but dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. Part of the reason for this was the large number of recordings he made and their prominence during his lifetime. By one estimate, he was the top-selling classical music recording artist of all time, having sold an estimated 200 million records.

On the 18th December, 1892 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, 'The Nutcracker' was first introduced to the world. Now, almost 125 years since that opening night and from the very same hall, the Mariinsky’s current Artistic Director, Valery Gergiev, reveals only his second recording of Tchaikovsky’s ballet masterpiece. A perfectly judged realisation of one of classical music’s most cherished works.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Ballet Op. 71 (excerpts); Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Polonaise from Christmas Eve Suite;
“Dance of the Tumblers” from The Snow Maiden, etc. – The Philhadelphia Orchestra; Eugene Ormandy, conductor
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 324 Mb | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Full scans | RS links & 4shared links
Publisher: Sony Classical

Eugene Ormandy's disc of Nutcracker excerpts, including the entire "suite" plus a good bit of additional music (Act 1's journey through the snow and Waltz of the Snowflakes, along with some more Act 2 dances, including the Final Waltz and Apotheosis) must be one of the biggest selling records of all time… Sounding better than ever, and at a budget price, this disc deserves to sell another few million copies. [11/8/2003]
–David Hurwitz