Nutcracker Suite, The - Tim Sparks

Advantages: Beautiful, carefree winding melodies, memorable sequences, wonderful for the christmas season.
Disadvantages: Absolutely none.

...to believe that the composition was a mere plagiarism of others works, with only fractions of it being worth keeping away from the fire. However, he would not be deterred so easily - he decided to leave his first Piano Concerto unchanged. At the time, he was characterized as a rather un-Russian composer by his critics, being regarded as a favorer of more west European styles of composing. Tchaikovsky went on to produce such famous works as Swan Lake, which is regarded by some as the greatest ballet ever created. Aswell as his famed Romeo & Juliet overture, the Nutcracker suite. The Sleeping Beauty (which was also adapted for Disney's film of the same name) and also his countless concertos and symphonys that so charactarize his inventiveness and sheer adeptitude when it came to composing music of limitless beauty. He taught in the Moscow... Read review

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Advantages: Exquisite dance music. A fesrive fantasia.
Disadvantages: A little too fast moving

...to a climax as the Nutcracker challenges the Mouse King in single combat. With the assistance of Clara, the Nutcracker wins and is transformed into a prince. A boy choir sings as Clara and the Nutcracker romantically waltz through the snowflakes in the forest. A frulato playing of the flutes (a flutter-tongue effect), suggests the rippling of a river as Clara and the Prince travel to the magical Kingdom of Confections. This is where the music will become recognizable to most. There follows a procession of eight dances used by Tchaikovsky to form his Ballet Suite. Many of the dances will be recognized from films and advertisements. The soundtracks from Elf and Mr Nanny, for instance, utilizes a selection of tunes from the Ballet Suite. Each dance has it’s own particular nationalistic flavour. The Spanish Dance opens as chocolate is served... Read review

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Advantages: Wonderful Recording, rich strings and great dynamics
Disadvantages: All other versions you hear will disappoint

...be a fruxtrating affair. Having a decent Hi-fi is incredibly helpful to get the most out of the CDs, but I always find (living in London) that late at night, when the background noise has fallen to acceptabe levels, the subtleties of classical music can be truly appreciated - though the neighbours may disagree...... Ahem...... This disc is a Detsche Grammophon offering and like many of their discs, is of the highest quality. There is not the background hiss normally associated with poor quality recordings, and the sound of the instruments is right in the room. The strings are lovely and rich and the brass cuts through with sharpness and precision. The dynamics are also great, highlighting the quality of the orchestra/conductor. The CD has three suites, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker. Plenty to keep you entertained. My favourite... Read review

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