Tchaikovsky and ballet. Ballet and Tchaikovsky. When you think of one, you often think of the other. Maybe you’ve seen Swan Lake or even performed in The Nutcracker. But, believe it or not, Tchaikovsky’s masterpieces weren’t always so popular. In fact, when the two ballets premiered in the late 19th century, both fell flat with audiences.
Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky was born in 1840 in Votkinsk, Russia. Although he showed a talent for music as a child, formal musical training wasn’t available in Russia at the time, and Peter wasn’t encouraged to pursue a musical career. Instead, he studied law and worked as an official in the Ministry of Justice.
Thankfully, a music school called the Saint Petersburg Conservatory opened in 1862. There, Tchaikovsky learned to write his own music. Before long, he had retired from the Ministry, began teaching music classes to earn money, and composed a number of symphonies and operas. In 1875, he was asked to write the music for a new ballet called Swan Lake.
Ballet originated in Italy during the Renaissance, but it wasn’t a part of Russian society until Peter the Great brought dancers to Russia in the late 17th century. The Imperial Russian Ballet, now known as the Mariinsky Ballet, was founded in Saint Petersburg in 1740, followed by the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow in 1776.
When Swan Lake premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1877, it received mostly negative reviews. The scenery and costumes were poor, and the music was too complicated for a ballet. Fifteen years later, when
The Nutcracker premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre, newspapers criticized it for using real children instead of professional dancers in the first act.
Tchaikovsky died unexpectedly in 1893. Two years later, the ballet master of the Imperial Ballet, Marius Petipa, staged a new production of Swan Lake. This time, audiences approved. To this day, many productions of the ballet use Petipa’s choreography (dance movements) as a model.
As for The
Nutcracker, it found new life on the other side of the world. In 1909, a man named Sergei Diaghilev founded a touring ballet company called Ballets Russes, or Russian Ballets in French. Ballets Russes helped popularize Russian-style ballet around the world. They danced to Russian music in their shows, including—you guessed it—parts of The Nutcracker.In 1954, with audiences clamoring for Russian ballets, New York City Ballet decided to perform The Nutcracker in full. The casting of children did not bother audiences in the United States as it had in Russia. In fact, the children became one of the show’s strengths. Community theaters began staging The Nutcracker, parents and friends came to the performances, and the Christmas tradition spread across the continent.
In 1954, with audiences clamoring for Russian ballets, New York City Ballet decided to perform The Nutcracker in full. The casting of children did not bother audiences in the United States as it had in Russia. In fact, the children became one of the show’s strengths. Community theaters began staging The Nutcracker, parents and friends came to the performances, and the Christmas tradition spread across the continent.
Although Tchaikovsky also completed eleven operas and seven symphonies, he’s perhaps best known for his three ballets (The Sleeping Beauty is the third). Today, Swan Lake is one of the most performed ballets worldwide, and The Nutcracker is
as much a Christmas tradition in
North America as candy canes and ugly sweaters.