Anyone looking for a traditional staging of Tchaikovsky's Christmas ballet will be pleased with this 2012 performance by the Wiener Staatsballett, in which company director Manuel Legris re-created the version that his mentor, Rudolf Nureyev, choreographed for Paris in 1985. Here, much of the action takes place in young Clara's dream, with characters played by her friends and family members, Wizard of Oz–style. Students of the Staatsoper's Ballet Academy fill many of the parts, not only in the opening party sequence but in the battle between the Nutcracker and his army against the forces of the Mouse King, and while their dancing is hardly flawless, their exuberance is well nigh irresistible. The more seasoned soloists are uniformly excellent, with Liudmila Konovalova a beautiful Clara and Vladimir Shiskov doing expert double-duty as both Drosselmeyer and the Prince; and the pas de deux sequences of Act II are all carried off with aplomb. The Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper plays with charm and delicacy under the baton of Paul Connelly, and the production benefits from Nicholas Georgiadis's rich and colorful sets and costumes. While this isn't quite the equal of Peter Wright's staging for the Royal Ballet (VL-3/11), it ranks a close second among recent releases. Presented in DTS 5.0 (DTS-HD 5.0 on the Blu-ray release) and PCM stereo, this is recommended. (F. Swietek)
The Nutcracker
(2012) 102 min. DVD: $24.99, Blu-ray: $39.99. C Major (dist. by Naxos of America). Volume 30, Issue 1
The Nutcracker
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