Der Nussknacker - International Festival Ballet

The Nutcracker - International Festival Ballet

Christmas wishes, children's dreams, fairytale magic: Tchaikovsky's ballet classic "The Nutcracker" has been moving young and old for more than 130 years. The composer wrote an enchanting ballet score for the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann with dances for snowflakes, puppets and cake children. In the best Russian ballet tradition, with a magnificent set and opulent costumes, the International Festival Ballet dances the lovingly reconstructed original from back then with timeless elegance and light-hearted ease.

Anyone experiencing a performance of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" for the first time may be surprised by the wealth of familiar melodies, waltzes and dances that the ear hears. The music to the individual scenes of the world-famous ballet enchants with its picturesque ideas, whisking you away to foreign worlds and snow-covered winter landscapes. Coffee, tea and chocolate, the Mouse King and the Sugar Plum Fairy, the dance of the reed pipes or the Waltz of the Flowers - the fairytale story of the Nutcracker is revived hundreds of times every year at Christmas time on stages around the world and in the hearts of audiences young and old.

Peter I. Tchaikovsky, music
Marius Petipa, libretto
Lev Ivanov, choreography
Martin Jansons, lighting design
Alex Bogutsky, staging

Orchestra of the National Opera of Moldova
Normunds Vaicis, conductor