by Mike Telin

Like many great works of art, the first performance of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg on December 18, 1892, was met with less than enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics. Describing the battle scene, Russian critic Alexandre Benois wrote, “One can not understand anything. Disorderly pushing about from corner to corner and running backwards and forwards — quite amateurish.”

Alexander Dumas’ libretto was criticized by some for being unfaithful to its source, E.T.A. Hoffmann’s tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Some critics questioned the ballet’s prominent use of children, while others referred to the party scene as “ponderous” and to the Grand Pas de Deux as “insipid.” [Read more…]