Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker

CD1

1. Miniature Overture
2. Act I: No. 1 The Decoration of the Christmas Tree
3. Act I: No. 2 March
4. Act I: No. 3 Children’s Galop, and Entry of the Parents
5. Act I: No. 4 Arrival of Drosselmeyer
6. Act I: No. 5 Grandfather's Dance
7. Act I: No. 6 Scena: Clara and the Nutcracker
8. Act I: No. 7 Scena: The Battle
9. Act I: No. 8 Scena: In the Pine Forest
10. Act I: No. 9 Waltz of the Snowflakes

CD2

1. Act II: No. 10 Scena: Tje Kingdom of Sweets
2. Act II: No. 11 Scena: Clara and the Prince
3. Act II: No. 12 Divertissement: Chocolate (Spanish Dance)
4. Act II: No. 12 Divertissement: Coffee (Arabian Dance)
5. Act II: No. 12 Divertissement: Tea (Chinese Dance)
6. Act II: No. 12 Divertissement: Trepak (Russian Dance)
7. Act II: No. 12 Divertissement: Dance of the Reed Pipes
8. Act II: No. 12 Divertissement: Mother Gigogne
9. Act II: No. 13 Waltz of the Flowers
10. Act II: No. 14 Pas de deux
11. Act II: No. 14 Variation I – Tarantella
12. Act II: No. 14 Variation II – Sugar-Plum Fairy and coda
13. Act II: No. 15 Final waltz and Apotheosis

The Nutcracker, first seen in 1892, recounts the magical Christmas Eve of young Clara. Her adventures in the company of an enchanted prince inspired Tchaikovsky to such spellbinding numbers as the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Waltz of the Flowers and a sparkling series of national dances.

In describing himself in an interview as “a complete romantic”, André Previn suggested just why his recordings of Tchaikovsky’s three great ballet scores, made in the 1970s with the London Symphony Orchestra, have become classics of the catalogue. In their sweep, colour and surging emotion, they exemplify the spirit of late Romanticism, the musical aesthetic at the heart of Previn’s repertoire. Over his 11 years as Principal Conductor of the LSO (1968-1979) he and his musicians became something of a media phenomenon, notably with their own series on BBC television, which helped to draw full houses for their concerts in London and on tour.