The Nutcracker - Strange Enchantments
Think The Nutcracker is a super-saccharine classic for the feelgood season? Think again. But don't let its dark undertones spoil your enjoyment of a balletic masterpiece.
Think of The Nutcracker as a super-saccharine classic for the feel-good season? Think again. Is everything really all sweetness and light in the world of sugar-plum fairy? No! But don't let the tale's dark undertones spoil your enjoyment of the wonderful music.
Tom Service tears the gaudy wrapping paper from Tchaikovsky's balletic masterpiece to remind us you don't always get what you want. Behind the tinsel and fluffy snowflakes lies a story imbued with darkness and death. But maybe that is the secret of its unfading allure and beauty.
Tom is joined by Marina Frolova-Walker and Peggy Reynolds to crack the most popular nut in the repertoire.
Last on
More episodes
Music Played
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker - Overture
Performer: Mariinsky Orchestra. Performer: Valery Gergiev.- Philips Classics聽.
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker - Chinese Dance
Performer: Mariinsky Orchestra. Performer: Valery Gergiev.- Philips Classics聽.
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker - Waltz of the Flowers
Performer: Mariinsky Orchestra. Performer: Valery Gergiev.- Philips Classics聽.
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker - Waltz of the Snowflakes
Performer: Mariinsky Orchestra. Performer: Valery Gergiev.- Philips Classics.
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker - Russian Dance
Performer: Mariinsky Orchestra. Performer: Valery Gergiev.- Philips Classics.
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Performer: Mariinsky Orchestra. Performer: Valery Gergiev.- Philips Classics.
-
Pyotr IlyichTchaikovsky arr. Ellington/ Strayhorn
The Nutcracker Suite - Sugar Rum Cherry
Performer: Duke Ellington and His Orchestra.- 颁辞濒耻尘产颈补听?.
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Iolanata - Atchevo eta prezhde ne znala
Performer: Anna Netrebko. Performer: Mariinsky Orchestra. Performer: Valery Gergiev.- DG.
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker - Arabian Dance
Performer: Mariinsky Orchestra. Performer: Valery Gergiev.- Philips Classics.
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker - Departure of the Guests
Performer: Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre. Performer: Alexander Vedernikov.- Pentatone.
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Performer: Mariinsky Orchestra. Performer: Valery Gergiev.- Philips Classics.
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker (Pas de deux)
Orchestra: Mariinsky Orchestra. Conductor: Valery Gergiev.- Philips Classics.
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker - Waltz of the Flowers
Performer: Mariinsky Orchestra. Performer: Valery Gergiev.- Philips Classics.
Broadcasts
- Sun 30 Dec 2018 17:00成人快手 Radio 3
- Fri 20 Dec 2019 16:30成人快手 Radio 3
- Sun 5 Dec 2021 17:00成人快手 Radio 3
- Fri 8 Dec 2023 16:30成人快手 Radio 3
Why do we call it 'classical' music?
Tom Service poses a very simple question (with a not-so-simple answer).
Six of the world's most extreme voices
From babies to Mongolian throat singers: whose voice is the most extreme of all?
How did the number 12 revolutionise music?
Why are we all addicted to bass?
Watch the animations
Join Tom Service on a musical journey through beginnings, repetition and bass lines.
When does noise become music?
We like to think we can separate 鈥渘oise鈥 from 鈥渕usic鈥, but is it that simple?
Podcast
-
The Listening Service
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service