The Nutcracker

While many versions of Tchaikovsky's classic holiday ballet—about young Clara, who for Christmas receives a nutcracker that turns into a handsome prince—are available on DVD (see reviews in VL-11/92, VL-11/01, and VL-1/05), this 2009 film of Peter Wright's traditional staging at London's Royal Opera House is among the very best. The production itself is hardly new—dating back a quarter-century—but Julia Trevelyan Oman's sets and costumes remain sumptuous, while Wright's choreography (which follows much of Lev Ivanov's 1892 original but also incorporates new touches) is both exuberant and stylish. The dancing is uniformly excellent, with Iohna Loots and Ricardo Cervera ideal as Clara and the Nutcracker Prince, Miyako Yoshida and Steven McRae equally fine as the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince, and all the remaining soloists—as well as the corps de ballet and the orchestra conducted by Koen Kessels—turning in stellar work. As a result, such familiar numbers as the battle with the Mouse King and the second-act divertissements in the Sugar Garden seem freshly minted. Boasting lustrous high-def imagery, smooth camerawork, and superb sound—in DTS 5.1 (DTS-HD 5.1 on the Blu-ray version) and LPCM stereo—the presentation is as good as the performance. Extras include a cast gallery, synopsis, and a rehearsal featurette. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)