Classics for Children - Audio Dramas with Music, Folge 1: The Nutcracker (ungekürzt)

"The Nutcracker" is a full-cast audio drama, presented as an exciting adventure for children, featuring famous melodies, exquisite themes and outstanding voice actors.

On Christmas Eve, Clara receives a nutcracker from her godfather, Drosselmeyer. That night she dreams that the nutcracker is fighting alongside toy soldiers against the Mouse King's army. Clara helps the nutcracker and it transforms into a prince. Together they journey to the Land of Sweets and celebrate a marvellous festival with the Sugar Plum Fairy. It was all just a wonderful dream - or was it...?

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was a Russian composer whose ballets "Swan Lake", "The Sleeping Beauty" and "The Nutcracker" became cornerstones of the repertoire. He studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and later taught in Moscow, developing a melodic style that blends Western forms with Russian colour. His music gained international acclaim during his lifetime and he conducted the premiere of his "Symphony No. 6 'Pathétique'" in 1893 shortly before his death.