On Monday, December 14th, 2015, at 1:45 P.M., Opera@theLibrary will present a special showing of Tchaikovsky's beloved holiday classic The Nutcracker ballet. The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, op. 71. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker and The Mouse King. It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on Sunday, December 18, 1892, on a double-bill with Tchaikovsky's opera, Iolanta. Although the original production was not a success, the 20-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was.

However, the complete Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late 1960s, and is now performed by countless ballet companies primarily during the Christmas season, especially in the U.S. Major American ballet companies generate around 40 percent of their annual ticket revenues from performances of The Nutcracker. Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions, in particular the pieces featured in the suite. Among other things, the score is noted for its use of the celesta, an instrument that the composer had already employed in his much lesser known symphonic ballad The Voyevoda.

All performances are free to the public. We hope to enhance your knowledge and appreciation of this beautiful art form. Light refreshments will be provided at intermission for our guests by our Friends of the Opera. For more information about Opera@theLibrary programs and other special events, please visit our web presence at https://sites.google.com/site/operaatthelibrary/or contact Dennis Smolarek at (352) 536-2275 and email at operaatcooperlibrary@gmail.com.