After the success of The Sleeping Beauty in 1890, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, the director of the Imperial Theatres, commissioned Tchaikovsky to compose a double-bill program featuring both an opera and a ballet. The opera would be 展开

The following extrapolation of the characters (in order of appearance) is drawn from an examination of the stage directions in the score.
Act I
• Herr Stahlbaum
• Children … 展开

The Nutcracker is one of the composer's most popular compositions. The music belongs to the Romantic period and contains some of his most … 展开

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a
Tchaikovsky made a selection of eight of the numbers from the … 展开

Saint Petersburg premiere
The first performance of the ballet was held as a double premiere together with Tchaikovsky's last opera, Iolanta, on 18 December [O.S. 展开

Below is a synopsis based on the original 1892 libretto by Marius Petipa. The story varies from production to production, though most follow the … 展开

From the Imperial Ballet's 1892 program
Titles of all of the numbers listed here come from Marius Petipa's original scenario as well as the original libretto and programs of the first production of 1892. All libretti and programs of works performed on the stages … 展开