THE NUTCRACKER at Covent Garden - Interrupted magic...

On the Monday before Xmas it was time to revisit the Royal Ballet's evergreen production of THE NUTCRACKER.  Yes, once again it was time to revisit the workshop of Herr Drosselmeyer, battle the Mouse King and journey to the Land of Sweets via the magical growing Christmas tree on the stage of Covent Garden.  Well I suppose three out of four isn't bad.

The Royal Ballet production of choreographer Peter Wright's THE NUTCRACKER is a Christmas staple at Covent Garden and after having fallen totally under it's spell last year, we pirouetted back for another helping, in fact we saw it's 436th performance!  This year is an extra-special revival as it mark's Sir Peter's 90th birthday.

It was a joy to see again and to hear the Royal Opera House orchestra under the baton of Boris Gruzin bring Tchaikovsky's thrilling score to life again - the second act could almost be called Ballet's Greatest Hits with the Chinese and Russian Divertissements followed by the Prince and Sugar Plum Fairy's glorious pas de deux and her solo.

We were about a third into the opening scene and gearing up to the big reveal - Drosselmeyer's shrinking Clara to the size of the Nutcracker by the scenic ploy of having the Christmas Tree at the back of the stage seeming to grow bigger and bigger and bigger.

Christopher Saunders as Drosselmeyer whipped his cloak around and about - it must be said not a patch on Gary Avis' capework from last year - and Meaghan Grace Hinkis' Clara fluttered about expectantly... but the tree stayed the same size.  With a whoosh the curtains flew in and a stage manager appeared to tell us that due to technical difficulties they were going to have stop for a few minutes... but, but, it's - like - Covent Garden!!!  It's the Christmas Tree!!!!

After what seemed an eternity - but probably not that long really - the orchestra struck up the transformation music, the curtains parted - and there was Clara and Drosselmeyer whirling away in front of the fully-grown tree.  I guess it was ok in the long run but darn, Constant Reader... I wanted to see the damn thing grow!

But the great thing about Peter Wright's NUTCRACKER is that it doesn't hang around over anything for too long, it's forever moving forward.  So after Clara defeats the Mouse King and frees Drosselmeyer's handsome nephew Hans-Peter from his Nutcracker spell, they are off into the world to experience the joy of dancing snowflakes and their trip to become guests of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince.

Although I liked Hinkis and Valentino Zucchetti as Clara and Hans-Peter, I felt that Federico Bonelli and Laura Morera as the Prince and the Sugar Plum Fairy, while fine together, lacked something in their solos - the pairing last year of Steven McRae and Iana Salenko were excellent together and apart.

But the total work was still glorious: Wright's always thrilling choreography, the late Julia Trevelyan Oman's exquisite design and Mark Henderson's lighting all combine to make The Royal Ballet's THE NUTCRACKER a perennial must-see at Christmas time. 

Just sort out that Christmas Tree for next time, eh?

The NUTCRACKER at Covent Garden - Christmas can start officially now!

How better to end the year of New Cultural Events (namely opera and ballet) than with a visit to Covent Garden to see a classic Royal Ballet production of Tchaikovsky's perennial favourite THE NUTCRACKER.

Warning to any diabetics - this production could endanger your health as the Sugar Plums rule!  My only previous experience of the piece is through Matthew Bourne's own take on it NUTCRACKER! which i have always enjoyed but now I am more au fait with dance it was time to be able to put that production in context next to the original.  Step forward the Royal Ballet with their 1999 production choreographed by Peter Wright after Lev Ivanov's original 1892 choreography.

As I have said before, it's remarkable that ballet companies can have productions that hark back to the original production of the piece.  How many theatre directors would like to direct UNCLE VANYA that was modelled on Stanislavski's original?  However there is certainly something in having a lineage to draw on and this production, here staged by Christopher Carr, is already in it's eleventh revival.

The production is simply enchanting, radiating warmth and goodwill like a particularly large glass of mulled wine.  Helped immeasurably by the late Julia Trevelyan Oman's designs, Wright's take on the story has the magician Drosselmeyer mourning that his nephew has been transformed by an enemy into a nutcracker, as you do!  His chance to undo the spell comes with a Christmas invitation to a family where he gives the nutcracker to the young daughter Clara.

Her love for the nutcracker releases the spell but not before Clara and the nephew defeat the nasty mouse king and his army after being shrunk by the magician.  He could have made it easier surely by keeping them human-sized!  Their reward is to be spirited away to the Kingdom of Sweets to meet the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince and be entertained by divertissements organised by Drosselmeyer.  On their return to the real world, Clara runs out of her house and bumps into a young man who looks strangely familiar, he in turn, hurries to Drosselmeyer's house where he is happily reunited with his uncle.

Peter Wright's spin on the story makes for a delightful fairy tale and Christopher Carr's staging made it as light as spun sugar on whipped cream.  It whizzed along like a top and this was in no small measure due to the excellent cast.  It was a particular delight to see a proper corps in the impossibly lovely Dance of the Snowflakes.

Gary Avis was very good as the magician Drosselmeyer, he has played it for a few years now and he twirled his vivid blue cape with panache.  Francesca Hayward was delightful as Clara, dancing with a sweet elegance and she was well partnered by Alexander Campbell as her energetic beloved nutcracker-made-real.  A special mention too for Olivia Cowley as the sinuous lead dancer in the Arabic speciality number.

The biggest treat of all was to see the show on the night that the Sugar Plum royalty were being danced by Iana Salenko and Steven McRae who we have seen previously as the lovers in THE TWO PIGEONS and as ROMEO AND JULIET.  In their solos and in their pas de deux both were excellent, elegant, graceful and with innate musicality but also dazzling in their speed around the stage and their controlled strength.

As I said, in a year of discovering the Royal Ballet in particular, what a delight to end on the magical high with this production of the NUTCRACKER and as I said, finally having a mental companion piece to Matthew Bourne's version.