The Nutcracker is an 1892 two-act ballet, with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Op. 71). The ballet was based on E. T. A. Hoffmann's fairy tale story of "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". The iconic March of the Toy Soldiers is a piece of orchestral music that features in the first act and is the second piece played.
Although the original ballet production was not a success, the 20-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. The complete Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late 1960s and is now performed by countless ballet companies, primarily during the Christmas season, especially in North America. Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions.
Performer: DuPage Symphony Orchestra (orchestra)
Barbara Schubert (conductor)
Publisher Info: DuPage, IL: DuPage Symphony Orchestra
Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 3.0
Performed 12 December 2010, Wentz Concert Hall, Naperville.
