Los Angeles Philharmonic / Gustavo Dudamel TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker

When reading about Tchaikovsky and The Nutcracker in a book written around 1950, one finds the comment that the ballet was somewhat successful at first, but that, since that time (1892), there have been very few performances outside Russia. How times have changed! For several decades since that observation was made, in America The Nutcracker has been – and continues to be – the attraction that proclaims the Christmas holiday season from sea to shining sea. In productions large, small, and in-between, with choreography by a variety of dance creators, this dance theater piece captivates children and the child that lives still in any adult. Because, for the children and the big people who take them to a performance of the ballet, the great equalizer is the marvelous score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. (Orrin Howard)