The premiere of Tchaikovsky’s seminal ballet ‘The Nutcracker’, on 18th December, 1892, at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg. It was NOT a hit.
The composer, who thought the Alexander Dumas source material was slight and childish, only agreed to write the piece if it was shown in a double-bill with his opera, ‘Iolanta’. He certainly didn’t want to repeat the critical failure of his earlier work: a certain ‘Swan Lake’.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how a trip to Paris inspired one of ballet’s most famous moments; check out some of the reviews of the day, when body-shaming ballerinas was evidently not discouraged; and explain how Czar Alexander was (literally) catered for in the stage directions…
Further Reading:
• "The Nutcracker's" disturbing origin story: Why this was once the world's creepiest ballet’ (Salon, 2014): https://www.salon.com/2014/12/24/the_nutcrackers_disturbing_origin_story_why_this_was_once_the_worlds_creepiest_ballet/
• ‘Sweet holiday staple 'The Nutcracker' may be darker than you think’ (The Washington Post, 2022): https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/11/25/nutcracker-history-russian-imperialism/
• ‘Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky / Nina Kaptsova - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ (2010): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz_f9B4pPtg
This episode first premiered in 2022, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or *Patreon.* Thanks!
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.