The Cracker Concert Review

For this concert review, I selected to attend The Nutcracker. The performance was conducted at Playhouse Square, in Cleveland, Ohio. The show was held on Saturday, December 3rd at 2pm. This was the first time that I had attended an event like this. I have been to other concerts, but none were as elegant as this performance. Prior to this class, I did not realize the amount of classical music that has influenced our society. Tchaikovsky compositions are a prime example of how this style of music has essentially become correlated with Christmas and the holiday season. It was surprising how recognizable the music was from this performance, and listing to it throughout the years without knowing the origins. The Pennsylvania Ballet and The Cleveland Orchestra combined to perform The Nutcracker. George Balanchine and the Artistic Director, Angel Corella, of the

The first act was of a household on Christmas Eve that had a large Christmas tree. The owners of the house had invited guest over to entertain them with a party. One of the guests presented a toy to one of the children, which was the “Nutcracker”. When the party draws to a close, the little girl who received the wooden toy goes to the tree to get the toy and then falls asleep with it. Once this occurs, the little girl has a dream, which depicts a battle between toy soldiers and mice. The most memorable part of this act to me was how the music was incorporated with the scene. Especially when it pertained to the Christmas tree, almost as if the colors on the tree would set the mood with the music. A dark ominous sound would be linked to a darker color on the tree. Not only the mood was depicted with the color of the lights, but also the tree lights would be in the same tempo or beat with the music. If the music tempo would increase, the lights on the tree would flash faster and vise versa. Notable music from this act was Tchaikovsky Op.71, Act I Tableau I: