December 17, 2008 - Eighteenth Day of Advent
Nutcracker Premier Day
The Nutcracker
Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker Premier
Early in 1891 the legendary composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky received a commission
from the Imperial Theatre Directorate at St. Petersburg to compose a one-act lyric opera
together with a ballet for presentation during the following season.
Accepting Tchaikovsky's choice of subject for the opera, the Theatre
Directorate selected Alexandre Dumas' French adaptation of
E.T.A. Hoffman's tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King for the ballet.
The first performance of the ballet was held as a double premiere
together with Tchaikovsky's last opera Iolanta on 18 December 1892,
at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The Nutcracker Story
The Nutcracker is a holiday fairy tale about a young girl,
Clara, and her favorite Christmas.
Clara's Godfather, Drosselmeier, is a magical, mysterious character
in her life. This Christmas he has given her a special gift, a beautiful
Nutcracker doll. Clara wants to stay awake with it all night, but
her family sends her off to bed. After everyone is asleep, Clara
sneaks downstairs to look at her Nutcracker doll. She eventually
falls asleep, and with a little help from Drosselmeier's magic,
she begins to dream...
Mice awaken her. The Mouse King appears and tries to kidnap
her and take her to his kingdom. Then, soldiers arrive and behind
them is the life-sized Nutcracker. He has come to save her from the
Mouse King. After an exciting battle, the Nutcracker defeats the
Mouse King. Clara has found her prince. Appearing through the
smoke, the Nutcracker Prince has come to take her away to his
special land and to show her his magnificent palace. Their
journey takes them through enchanted lands where they
meet a wide variety of fantasy characters.
The Prince escorts Clara to the Land of Sweets where they are greeted
by the Sugar Plum Fairy. The Prince tells her about their daring battle with the army of
mice and she rewards them with a celebration of dances.
Clara awakens from her dream and finds herself by her
Christmas tree with her beloved Nutcracker.
Nutcracker History
It is estimated that the first Erzgebirge nutcracker, resembling a soldier,
was made around 1870. In those days, all villagers were at the service of their officials
and figures in uniforms. To have soldiers, though wooden, at their disposal in their
homes must have given the townspeople a feeling of satisfaction.
Standing wooden nutcrackers in the form of soldiers and kings were shown in the
Sonneberg and Erzgebirge regions of Germany by 1800 and in 1830, the term “Nussknacker”
appeared in the dictionary of the Brothers Grim. It was defined as “often in the form of a
misshaped little man, in whose mouth the nut, by means of a leaver or screw, is cracked open”.
In 1872 Wilhelm Füchtner, known as the “father of the nutcracker,” made the first commercial
production of nutcrackers using the lathe to create many of the same design.
Nutcrackers were given as a keepsake to protect ones home and as a symbol of good luck.
They represented power and strength and served as guard to keep away evil spirits.
With their fierce demeanor they bare their teeth to protect the home and are a t
raditional figure of goodwill.
Nutcrackers became an ornament as much as it was a tool in village homes.
Today, nutcracker designs, representing many hobbies and careers, are being made to
respond to the interest of avid collectors all over the world
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Elkhorn-Waterloo Home Page
Christmas 2008 Advent Calendar
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Created December 5, 2008
Last Updated February 16, 2009 - (12/17-8) 15
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