Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi - Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (2014) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

This is the concluding recording in Neeme Järvi's series with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra devoted to Tchaikovsky's three great ballets. This complete, uncut version of The Nutcracker follows The Sleeping Beauty (CHSA5113(2)) and Swan Lake (CHSA5124(2)), both of which have been much awarded.

The Nutcracker draws its influences from both Hoffmann's and Dumas's tales of the same name, and makes delightful use of le joli', i.e. the pretty', in music vivacious themes decked out in ingenious orchestration already mastered by Léo Delibes in Coppélia.

The Nutcracker relates the dreams of Clara Silberhaus on Christmas Eve, aroused by the nutcracker which her mysterious godfather has given her. Then the guests' lulling and languishing waltzes take her on a fantastic journey from a mystical snowy forest to the princely kingdom of Confiturembourg. Tchaikovsky illustrates this journey with various musical themes, such as confectionary, flowers, and Mirlitons, as well as Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian dances.

Commissioned by the director of the Imperial Theatres, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, and originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, The Nutcracker was premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg in 1892. It came in a doublebill with the opera Iolanta, also commissioned by Vsevolozhsky. For this recording, Neeme Järvi and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra have re-explored Tchaikovsky's masterpiece together, in order to offer a completely new experience of one of the most-performed ballets in musical history.

In this final instalment of their trilogy of Tchiakovsky ballet recordings, it comes as no surprise that the players in the Bergen Philharmonic are at one with their conductor, they play this score with a panache and imagination that holds the listener enthralled by the tale that begins one Christmas eve as Clara Silberhaus journeys from snow-covered forest to the enchanted kingdom of Confiturembourg. –Gramophone,Dec'14

Jarvi's recording is… recommendable to the score. –IRR, Dec'14

Neeme Järvi's Bergen Philharmonic series of Tchaikovsky ballets concluded with one of the fastest, most exhilarating recordings of The Nutcracker committed to desk. Not that it ever sounds rushed; this conductor has always shone in Russian music and the Bergen players aren't fazed by the score's technical demands. We all know the famous bits, there's so much more to this work than the familiar suite. The close of Act 1 is sublime in Järvi's hands, and he manages to make Act 2's extended sequence of dance movements brilliantly coherent. Wonderful solo playing too, especially from trumpet and harp. –ArtsDesk, 29/12/14

TRACKLIST

Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

The Nutcracker, Op. 71
Ballet féerique in Two Acts

Ouverture
01. Ouverture. Allegro giusto (3:00)

Act I

Tableau I
02. Scène. Allegro non troppo – Poco più sostenuto – Tempo I – Più moderato – Allegro vivace – Meno – (3:34)
03. Marche. Tempo di Marcia viva (2:16)
04. Petit galop des enfants et Entrée des parents. Presto – Andante – Allegro – (2:39)
05. Scène dansante. Andantino – Stringendo – Allegro vivo – Andantino sostenuto – Più andante – Allegro molto vivace – Molto più presto – Tempo di Valse (Pas de Deux) – Presto – (5:42)
06. Scene et Danse du Gross-Vater. Andante (Tempo di Valse) – Poco animando – Tempo I – Andantino – Tempo I – Piu allegro – Tempo I – Piu mosso – Moderato assai – Andante – L’istesso tempo (La Berceuse) – Piu mosso – Tempo I – Piu mosso – L’istesso tempo – Tempo di Gross-Vater – Allegro vivacissimo – Tempo I (6:28)
07. Scène. Allegro semplice – Moderato con moto – Allegro giusto – Più allegro – Moderato assai – (6:47)
08. Scène. Allegro vivo – Pochissimo più mosso – La Bataille – La Seconde Bataille (3:24)

Tableau II
09. Scène. Andante (3:18)
10. Valse des Flocons de neige. Tempo di Valse, ma con moto – Presto – Poco meno (6:27)

Act II

11. Scène. Andante – (4:29)
12. Scène. Andante con moto – Un poco animando – Moderato – Allegro agitato – Poco più allegro – Tempo precedente [Allegro agitato] (4:46)

Divertissement
13. a) Le Chocolat. Allegro brillante – Più mosso (1:10)
14. b) Le Café. Commodo (3:16)
15. c) Le Thé. Allegro moderato (1:02)
16. d) Trépak. Tempo di Trepak, molto vivace – Stringendo – Prestissimo (1:07)
17. e) Les Mirlitons. Moderato assai (2:13)
18. f) La Mère Gigogne et les polichinelles. Allegro giocoso – Allegro vivo – Poco più (2:40)
19. Valse des Fleurs. Tempo di Valse (6:44)
20. Pas de Deux. Andante maestoso – Poco stringendo – Poco più mosso – Incalzando – Animando – Ritenuto – Tempo I – Poco stringendo – Tempo I (4:31)
21. Variation I (Pour le danseur). Tempo di Tarantella – (0:45)
22. Variation II (Pour la danseuse). Danse de la Fée-Dragée. Andante non troppo – Presto – (2:05)
23. Coda. Vivace assai (1:24)
24. Valse finale et Apothéose. Tempo di Valse – Molto meno – L’Apothéose (4:47)

PERSONNEL
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Neeme Järvi (conductor)

Recorded: Grieghallen, Bergen, Norway, 9-12 December 2013