I obtained this version of The Nutcracker Suite from woodchucker2's vinyl rip of Franklin Mint 100 Greatest Recordings, Volume 1.


Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker: Suite
The Boston Pops Orchestra
Arthur Fiedler
1975
Boston Symphony Hall
London Phase IV Technicians


The Nutcracker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutcracker


Composition

After the success of The Sleeping Beauty in 1890, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, the director of the Imperial Theatres, commissioned Tchaikovsky to compose a double-bill program featuring both an opera and a ballet. The opera would be Iolanta. For the ballet, Tchaikovsky would again join forces with Marius Petipa, with whom he had collaborated on The Sleeping Beauty. The material Petipa chose was an adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by Alexandre Dumas play called The Tale of the Nutcracker.[1] The plot of Hoffmann's story (and Dumas' adaptation) was greatly simplified for the two-act ballet. Hoffmann's tale contains a long flashback story within its main plot entitled The Tale of the Hard Nut, which explains how the Prince was turned into the Nutcracker. This had to be excised for the ballet. [5]

Petipa gave Tchaikovsky extremely detailed instructions for the composition of each number, down to the tempo and number of bars.[1] The composer did not appreciate having to work under such constraints and found himself reluctant to work on the ballet.[6] The completion of the work was interrupted for a short time when Tchaikovsky visited the United States for twenty five days to conduct concerts for the opening of Carnegie Hall[7] and composed part of it in France.[6]


St. Petersburg Premiere

The first performance of The Nutcracker was not deemed a success.[8] The reaction to the dancers themselves was ambivalent. While some critics praised Dell-Era her pointe work as the Sugar Plum Fairy (she allegedly received five curtain-calls),[2] one critic called her "corpulent" and "podgy."[1] Olga Preobajenskaya as the Columbine doll was panned by one critic as "completely insipid" and praised as "charming" by another.[2] One audience member described the choreography of the battle scene as confusing: "One cannot understand anything. Disorderly pushing about from corner to corner and running backwards and forwards -- quite amateurish."[2]

The libretto was criticized for being "lopsided"[2] and for not being faithful to the Hoffmann tale.[1] Much of the criticism focused on the featuring of children so prominently in the ballet[9], and many bemoaned the fact that the ballerina did not dance until the Grand Pas de Deux near the end of the second act (which did not occur until nearly midnight during the program).[2] Some found the transition between the mundane world of the first scene and the fantasy world of the second act too abrupt.[1] Reception was better for Tchaikovsky's score. Critics called it "astonishingly rich in inspiration" and "from beginning to end, beautiful, melodious, original, and characteristic."[2] But even this was not unanimous as some critics found the party scene "ponderous" and the Grand Pas de Deux "insipid."[9]


Concert Excerpts and Arrangements

    * Tchaikovsky: Suite from the ballet The Nutcracker - Tchaikovsky made a selection of eight of the numbers from the ballet before the ballet's December 1892 premiere, forming The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a, intended for concert performance. The suite was first performed, under the composer's direction, on 19 March 1892 at an assembly of the St. Petersburg branch of the Musical Society.[13] The suite became instantly popular (according to Men of Music "every number had to be repeated"),[14] but the complete ballet did not begin to achieve its great popularity until after the George Balanchine staging became a hit in New York City.[15] The suite became very popular on the concert stage, and was featured in Disney's Fantasia. The Nutcracker Suite should not be mistaken for the complete ballet. The outline below represents the selection and sequence of the Nutcracker Suite culled by the composer.

    I. Miniature Overture
    II. Danses caracteristiques

        a. Marche
        b. Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy [ending altered from ballet-version]
        c. Russian Dance (Trepak)
        d. Arabian Dance
        e. Chinese Dance
        f. Reed-Flutes

    III. Waltz of the Flowers 



100 Greatest Recordings, Volume 1 -   http://www.frankeves.com/blog/2010/05/vinyl-lp-sale-the-100-greatest-recordings-of-all-time/


The 100 Greatest Recordings of all times from the Franklin Mint has been called the ultimate private library of fine recorded music. Every recording was selected by a distinguished panel of music authorities (Martin Bookspan, Schuyler G. Chapin, Franco Ferrara, Irving Kolodin, William Mann, R. Gallois Montbrun, Marcel Prawy, Andre Previn, William Schuman and H. H. Stuckenschmidt).


The library was first announced on the 100th anniversary of Thomas Edison's invention of the phonograph. Each recorded treasure was pressed with a special vinyl formulation that enabled a clear, quiet playing surface on a more rigid LP disk. Every record was pressed in an atmosphere controlled 'clean room'.

There are 50 library cases. Each library case houses two proof-quality long playing records, with each record resting, fully protected, within its own dust free compartment. The record is firmly supported within the closed compartment in such a way that the grooved playing surface never touches any part of the case. Each library case includes a specially written and illustrated commentary, by a respected music expert. The composers and their works are discussed in detail, and background information is provided on the orchestras, conductors, ensembles, and featured soloists.




Equipment used:

Empire 598 TT
ADC XLM MKIII Cartridge
Bottlehead Seduction Tube Phono Preamp
Bottlehead Foreplay Tube Preamp
M-AUDIO SOLO
GoldWave 5.57
ClickRepair if needed




More of my Christmas Highres music torrents:


Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Suite (1975) [Vinyl] [FLAC]:  https://www.piratebays.to/torrent/5992913/Tchaikovsky_-_The_Nutcracker_Suite_%281975%29_%5BVinyl%5D_%5BFLAC%5D


Elvis Presley - Elvis' Christmas Album [Vinyl-180g]-aksman:  https://www.piratebays.to/torrent/5943119/Elvis_Presley_-_Elvis__Christmas_Album_%5BVinyl-180g%5D-aksman


Frank Sinatra - A Jolly Christmas (1961) [Vinyl]-Dr. Robert:  https://www.piratebays.to/torrent/5943087/Frank_Sinatra_-_A_Jolly_Christmas_%281961%29_%5BVinyl%5D-Dr._Robert_ 


Diana Krall - Christmas Songs 24-bit/96kHz Digital Download:  https://www.piratebays.to/torrent/6013897/Diana_Krall_-_Christmas_Songs_24-bit_96kHz_Digital_Download