St Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre

The Magic Nut


ballet in two acts

Third performance of the fourteenth subscription

Performers

Conductor: Mikhail Sinkevich
Princess Pirlipat: Yekaterina Ivannikova
Young Drosselmeyer:  Alexander Sergeyev
Age category 6+

Credits

Music by Sergei Slonimsky
Libretto by Mihail Chemiakin after E. T. A. Hoffmann´s tale Nutcracker and Mous King
Production by Mihail Chemiakin
Choreography by Donvena Pandoursky (2005)
Set, costume and production design by Mihail Chemiakin
Lighting design by Vladimir Lukasevich

SYNOPSIS

Proloque
Drosselmeyer´s workshop
While in deep contemplation, Drosselmeyer is paid a visit by Cardinal Kryselieu.


Act I
Scene 1
The Royal Gardens. Birth of the Princess.
The ballet begins with the long-awaited birth of Princess Pirlipat in the bird kingdom. The Princess is born from a Fabergé egg, occasioning great celebration. Her father, the King, dances on one leg, and all the courtiers, gathered for the birth, obligingly follow suit. The courtiers dote on Pirlipat and present her with birthday gifts.
Among the guests at the celebration are members of the rat nobility, whose Queen, Krysilda, considers herself a peer of the bird queen in whose kitchen she lives. Krysilda and Cardinal Kryselieu present the newborn with a Nutcracker doll. The doll frightens Pirlipat and the King hurriedly returns it to the rats to calm the Princess. All the courtiers and guests are invited to a celebratory meal.

The Royal Pantry.
Animated preparations are underway to celebrate the birth of the Princess. Under the direction of the butler, cooks of various nationalities propose dishes for the banquet. The butler chooses the King´s favourite dish, German sausages, and the platters are dispatched to the table. On the way to the table, however, four mischievous rats manage to steal the sausages and make off with them.

The Royal Gardens. The Banquet.
The table is set for the celebration of Pirlipat´s birth. Among the guests are the bird courtiers and the rat Queen Krysilda, Cardinal Kryselieu and some members of the rat aristocracy. Herr Drosselmeyer, the King´s sorcerer, arrives with his nephew. Young Drosselmeyer charms the ladies of the court by cracking nuts. The servants arrive with platters of sausage, but when they uncover the dishes, they are empty. The King is enraged. He demands to know who is responsible and orders Herr Drosselmeyer to explain what has happened. After brief reflection, Drosselmeyer points to the rats. The King immediately exiles Krysilda and sentences the rat aristocrats to execution.

The Dungeon.
The condemned rats are led to the gallows, followed by a suite of mourners. The King and Queen bring Princess Pirlipat to observe the executions. Krysilda, beside herself with grief and horror, swears to avenge these aristocrats´ lives by casting a spell on the Princess. The King calls for Drosselmeyer to protect his daughter. Drosselmeyer introduces mousetraps and cats to keep the rats away from Pirlipat.

Scene 2
Pirlipat´s Bedroom.
Sixteen years have passed since Krysilda´s curse on the infant Pirlipat. The Princess pines in her heavily guarded bedroom, accompanied by her protectors, the cats, who have by now grown old and fat. The King comes to bid his daughter good night and check the room for intruders. He warns Pirlipat that danger is always near and that she must not take Krysilda´s threats lightly. When he leaves, Pirlipat retires and the cats promptly doze off. Krysilda tiptoes into the bedroom, easily avoiding the sleeping cats. She leans into Pirlipat´s bed and bites the Princess. A moment later, Pirlipat gets up, waking the cats. The beautiful Princess has been transformed into an ugly monster with a huge mouth – a Nutcracker. The cats, horrified by their lapse in protecting the Princess, try to flee the bedroom, but meet the King on the way. He is in despair and demands Drosselmeyer be summoned. Herr Drosselmeyer comes to the room with his nephew and encounters the King´s accusations. It is Drosselmeyer´s fault – the mousetrap and cat system has failed to protect Pirlipat. And Drosselmeyer caused the quarrel with the rats in the first place by accusing them of stealing the sausage. Drosselmeyer must reverse the spell on Pirlipat if he wishes to live. Young Drosselmeyer, meanwhile, is moved by Pirlipat´s plight and tries to comfort her.
A little rat sells Drosselmeyer the secret of how to cancel the spell over the Princess with the magic nut Crackatook. Together with his nephew Herr Drosselmeyer sets out on a journey to find Crackatook and bring it back to the kingdom.

Scene 3
The Underwater Kingdom.
Drosselmeyer and his nephew follow the nut to an underwater kingdom, where they are surrounded by terrifying witches, demons and sea monsters. Warriors try to stop them by force, jellyfish threaten to entrap them and a voluptuous frog tries to seduce Herr Drosselmeyer. However, all attempts by the inhabitants of the underwater kingdom fail. The Drosselmeyers disengage themselves from the seaweed and the witches´ trawling nets and hurry off in pursuit of the nut Crackatook once more.

Scene 4
The Kingdom of Merriment.
Pursuing the nut Crackatook out from under water, Drosselmeyer and his nephew find themselves in an aerie, on clouds populated by putti with beer and wine. Here all is merriment. Lovely girls and a Venus-like seductress invite the visitors to dance. Young men offer drink and good cheer. This is a kingdom where barrels of wine run after the drinkers, offering more refreshment. The visitors are at first inclined to remain here, forgetting their mission to recover the nut Crackatook, but spot a group of rats with the nut and rush off after them.


Act II
Scene 1
The Rat Kingdom.
Rats of all kinds have gathered to fete their long-awaited revenge of their executed aristocrats. Crackatook, their trophy and the key to their victory, hangs overhead. Spanish, French and German rats entertain one another with national dances, while the young hooligan rats whip the gathering into a frenzied celebration. Finally, the assembled company goes off to sleep.
Herr Drosselmeyer and his nephew sneak into the rats´ meeting hall and make off with the Magic Nut. The elder Drosselmeyer explains to his nephew that the kernel from this nut will break the spell on Princess Pirlipat.

Scene 2
The Royal Gardens. Pirlipat´s Suitors.
The King has prepared his gardens for the reception of suitors for Princess Pirlipat. He has announced that whoever cracks the Magic Nut will have her hand in marriage and inherit the kingdom. The monstrous Princess is hidden in a specially prepared throne, out of view of the suitors.
Young men have come from all over the world in hopes of winning the Princess´ hand and the avian kingdom. One by one, they try to crack the nut. When it seems that all is lost and no-one can save the Princess, Drosselmeyer suggests his nephew try his luck. To the astonishment of all present, young Drosselmeyer easily cracks the nut and hands the kernel to Pirlipat. The Princess emerges from her throne, restored to her former beauty.
Pirlipat dances with her saviour. During their dance young Drosselmeyer accidentally bumps into Krysilda. The rat Queen curses him, turning young Drosselmeyer into a Nutcracker. The Princess and the guests taunt him and banish him from the kingdom.

Scene 3
Drosselmeyer´s Workshop.
Drosselmeyer, discouraged by the turn of events, is deep in his calculations when Cardinal Kryselieu arrives to gloat. The two sorcerers make a bet over who will determine young Drosselmeyer´s fate.
The Nutcracker arrives, despondent. He is pining after Pirlipat, recalling the waltz he danced with her and painfully remembering her behaviour to him. Miserable at the tragedy that has befallen him, the Nutcracker slowly turns to wood from grief. Suddenly rat gendarmes appear and furiously attack the Nutcracker. Drosselmeyer uses all his remaining strength to protect his nephew.


Finale
Drosselmeyer is wandering with his enchanted nephew when he meets Masha, a young girl who loves the Nutcracker doll.
Herr Drosselmeyer has found the way to break the spell on his nephew.


World premiere: 14 May 2005, Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg

Running time 2 hours
The performance has one interval

Music created with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung


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