On 18 December (6 December, Old Style) 1892 the Mariinsky Theatre hosted the world premiere of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker. One hundred and twenty-five years later, the music of The Nutcracker has become a constant companion to Christmas and the New Year, not just in Russia but in many countries throughout the world, and productions of this ballet traditionally adorn the festive playbills of the world's greatest theatres.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky's music, composed following a stage plan by Marius Petipa for a fairytale ballet-féerie, was first performed in a production by Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1892. The richly designed production matched the spirit of 19th century ballets – integrity of the plot dramaturgy was not among the choreographer's principal tasks; he focussed his attention on the wealth of the dance text. The avant-garde 1920s brought the Leningrad stage a new reading of The Nutcracker. The production mounted by Fyodor Lopukhov, the acrobatic supports, the splits and the melodeclamation were shaded by traditional variations and pas de deux. But the plastique experiments and the tragic essence of the score underlined by the choreographer were met with caution from the critics. And already in 1934 the Mariinsky Theatre's playbill listed a new Nutcracker – that of Vasily Vainonen.
Today the Mariinsky Theatre performs two versions of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker: alongside Vasily Vainonen's traditional dance version, which has adorned the stage for more than eighty years, at the Mariinsky II audiences can see the staging by Mihail Chemiakin from 2001. Vainonen's Nutcracker may be seen performed by both Mariinsky Ballet dancers (27, 28 and 31 December and 2, 4 and 5 January) and by students of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, who in December gave four performances. This version of The Nutcracker will also feature in the programme of the Mariinsky Theatre's traditional Christmas tour to Baden-Baden (Germany). Lead soloists of the Mariinsky Ballet will appear in it at the Festspielhaus (25 and 26 December).
Differing in spirit, The Nutcracker designed by Mihail Chemiakin, who rethought Marius Petipa's stage plan by referring back to E. T. A. Hoffmann's tale and created the sets and costumes, will be presented on 20 December and 8 January at the Mariinsky II.
At the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre (Vladivostok) the ballet The Nutcracker will form the basis of the Yuletide ballet repertoire and will be presented nine times before the end of 2017. Another series of performances will take place in January 2018. The Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will present The Nutcracker with choreography by Eldar Aliev, Principal Choreographer of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, accentuating Marius Petipa's stage plan.
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