The Nutcracker (Russian: Щелкунчик, tr. Shchelkunchik listen ) is an 1892 two-act ballet ("fairy ballet"; Russian: балет-феерия, balet-feyeriya), 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 1816 short story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King".
Although the original production was not a success, the 20-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. 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 North America. Major American ballet companies generate around 40% of their annual ticket revenues from performances of The Nutcracker. The ballet's score has been used in several film adaptations of Hoffmann's story.
Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions. 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.
![The Nutcracker](https://cdn.calendarz.com/uploads/events/december/18/122549/the-nutcracker_compressed.jpg)
1892Dec, 18
Premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
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Events on 1892
- 28May
Sierra Club
In San Francisco, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club. - 6Jul
Homestead Strike
Three thousand eight hundred striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents during the Homestead Strike, leaving ten dead and dozens wounded. - 7Jul
Philippine Revolution
The Katipunan is established, the discovery of which by Spanish authorities initiated the Philippine Revolution. - 8Jul
Great Fire of 1892
St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892. - 9Aug
Telegraphy
Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.