Georgian chronicles have said that he is the son of Rev, son of Mirian III, the first Christian king of Iberia. He is reported to have succeeded by his relative and son-in-law, Varaz-Bakur II, and to have been forced to pay tribute to the Sasanids of Iran. The chronicles praise his piety and credit Trdat with the construction of churches at Rustavi and Nekresi.
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a classical ballet in two acts. It is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's 1816 fairy tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It tells the story of a little girl who goes to the Land of Sweets on Christmas Eve. Ivan Vsevolozhsky and Marius Petipa adapted Hoffmann's story for the ballet. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the music. Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov designed the dances. "The Nutcracker" was first performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 18 December 1892 to a modest success and rarely seen the next years.
In 1940, Walt Disney used some of the "Nutcracker" music in his animated movie "Fantasia", which led to an interest in the ballet. Interest grew when George Balanchine's "The Nutcracker" was televised in the late 1950s. The ballet has been performed in many different places since then. Before the first performance, Tchaikovsky took some numbers from the ballet to form the "Nutcracker Suite". This work was a great success on the concert stage, and is still played today.
The origin of "The Nutcracker" has its roots in the great success of "The Sleeping Beauty" ballet. This ballet was staged at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1890. It was the work of the director of the Imperial Theatres in St. Petersburg, Ivan Vsevolozhsky; the composer, Tchaikovsky; and the choreographer, Marius Petipa. Vsevolozsky thought another ballet based on a children's story would be just as successful as "The Sleeping Beauty".
He picked Hoffmann's 1816 fairy tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" as the subject for the new ballet. This story was loved by Russians. He wrote an adaptation of Hoffmann's story based on the Alexandre Dumas translation. He dropped much of the original. Petipa adapted Vsevolozsky's story to the requirements of ballet. Vsevolozsky then pressured Tchaikovsky into writing the music for the ballet. Tchaikovsky did not like the adaptation of Hoffmann's story, but he agreed to write the music.
Petipa designed the dances. He gave Tchaikovsky special directions about how the music was to be written. For example, he wanted a great "crescendo" of 48 bars as the Christmas tree rose higher and higher in Act 1. He wrote that the music for the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" should sound like drops of water splashing in a fountain.
In March 1892 the music was almost complete. Tchaikovsky took the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", the "Waltz of the Flowers", and other numbers from the ballet to form the 20-minute "Nutcracker Suite". It was first played for the Russian Musical Society. The organization's members loved it. "Nutcracker Suite" is still played today.
Tchaikovsky completed the music for the ballet in April 1892. Rehearsals started in September 1892. Petipa fell ill and his assistant Lev Ivanov completed the dances. The ballet was first performed on 18 December 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Tchaikovsky's one-act opera "Iolanta" was played before the curtain rose on "The Nutcracker". The run ended in 1893 after eleven performances.
In 1919, choreographer Alexander Gorsky staged a production. He cut out the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, and gave their dances to Clara and the Nutcracker Prince. They were now played by adults instead of children. A shortened version of the ballet was first performed outside Russia in Budapest's Royal Opera House in 1927.
In 1934, Vasili Vainonen, choreographer of the Kirov Ballet, staged a version of the work which was also influenced by the criticisms of the original production. He also cast adult dancers in the roles of Clara and the Prince, as Gorsky had. The Vainonen version influenced several later productions. Knowledge of the choreography spread because many dancers went to the west after the Russian Revolution.
The first complete performance outside Russia took place in England in 1934. It was staged by Nicholas Sergeyev at the Vic-Wells Ballet. It used a version of Petipa's original choreography. Annual performances of the ballet have been staged there since 1952.
The ballet takes place in Germany in the early 19th century. The curtain rises on a Christmas Eve party in the Silberhaus home. Guests arrive. The children get their presents, then dance about the room.
The door opens. A strange little man named Drosselmeyer comes into the room. He is a toy-maker. He is also Clara Silberhaus's godfather. He has four dancing dolls for the children and a special surprise for Clara. It is a nutcracker. She loves it, but her brother Fritz accidentally breaks it. She places the Nutcracker in her doll bed to get well.
The party ends and everyone leaves. Clara and her family go to bed. Clara creeps back to the room. She needs to be certain her Nutcracker is resting quietly. All of a sudden, mice start running about the room. The dolls, the tin soldiers, and all the other playthings come to life to fight the mice.
The Christmas tree rises higher and higher. The Nutcracker jumps out of the doll bed to fight the Mouse King. When the Nutcracker is in danger, Clara saves his life by throwing her slipper at the Mouse King. The Mouse King runs out of the room with all the other mice.
The Nutcracker becomes a human prince. Clara and the Nutcracker Prince set off through the snowy woods for the magical Land of Sweets. The beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy rules this land. She welcomes the two children then orders her subjects to dance for them. Dances about Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate are presented. Many other dances are presented. The ballet ends with everyone dancing a waltz.
Act I: Tableau 1
""'Act I: Tableau 2
Act II: Tableau 3
Criticism of the ballet was mixed. A portion thought of it to be a noble composition, with exemplary themes and emotion, however many thought otherwise. Russian balletomanes liked expert adult dancers and the large cast of children was critically attacked. One person complained that the ballet was "produced with children for children." Even the adult dancers came under fire. One person, for example, thought the dancer playing the doll in Act 1 was "nice" while another person thought she was "insipid".
One critic complained that the ballet was in bad taste because characters in Act 2 looked like food from a pastry shop. Another complained that Ivanov's "Waltz of the Snowflakes" was taken from ballets by Petipa. Tchaikovsky however thought that the staging was very beautiful, so much so that his eyes grew tired looking at it.
Some people were surprised that Tchaikovsky had anything to do with the ballet. They thought "The Nutcracker" was foolish. They were embarrassed that the great composer had had a hand in it. On the first night however, Czar Alexander III called Tchaikovsky before him in the royal box to congratulate him on the music.
The newspapers were divided on the ballet's value. The "St. Petersburg Gazette" wrote "this ballet is the most tedious thing ever seen ... a long way from what ballet music should be." The "St. Petersburg News-sheet" wrote, "It is hard to say which number is the greatest, for everything from start to finish is beautiful." "The New Age" wrote that Tchaikovsky's orchestral writing was the work of genius. A ballet lover thought "The Nutcracker" was the greatest of the three ballets Tchaikovsky had written.