Nutcracker

Nutcracker ballet. Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to libretto and script plan of Marius Petipa. Adapted by Mihail Chemiakin with new choreography by Kirill Simonov. Performed 2007 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Peterburg. Stars Irina Golub, Leonid Sarafanov, Vladimir Ponomarev, Elena Bazhenova, Anton Adasinsky, Anton Lukovkin, Alexander Kulikov, Natalia Sveshnikova, Igor Petrov, Tatiana Goryunova, Ilmira Bagautdinova, Eduard Gusev, Andrei Yakoviev, Ekaterina Kondaurova, Elena Adrosova, Daria Vasnetsova, Ekaterina Petina, Daria Sukhorukova, and Olga Balinskaya supported by other artists of the Mariinsky Ballet and students of the Academy of Russian Ballet. Valery Gergiev conducts the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre. Sets, costumes, and production design by Mihail Chemiakin; directed for TV by Denis Caïozzi. Although most of this show was shot in high-definition, the pictures of the theater interior and all the shots showing the whole stage were shot in standard definition. The music is fine. Released 2008, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

There is no "standard" Nutcracker. Anybody can paint what he will on the canvas of Tchaikovsky's score. Just about every ballet company in the West has to do one every year, so there are hundreds of versions around, including about 12 from major houses that are well known to ballet fans from live performances and recordings. Most of the well-known versions are more or less conservative. But there are quite a few that are wildly idiosyncratic. Well, this Chemiakin version is one from that group, and it seems to be aimed at the anarchists, deranged psychologists, paranoid schizophenics, and serial killers in the audience.

Mihail Chemiakin is an iconoclastic Russian painter and designer who stood up to Soviet power when doing that was dangerous and keeps standing up to everything that came later. He appears at the curtain call in this video in his trademark black hat and garb. His style is 51% folk primitive mixed with 49% surrealism. His work tends to be interesting sometimes, but always ugly. Nevertheless he is highly regarded, and the Mariinsky appears to have given him carte blanche for the design and libretto here.

And what a glorious mess Chemiakin made! Masha (the Russian name for Clara) is the neglected and desperately unhappy daughter of a lecherous father and vain mom. Drosselmeyer, a spastic ghoul figure from the silent movies, is a sexual predator who sees Masha's vulnerability. To get access, he tries to ingratiate himself with Masha at the drunken party at her home. But his gift to Masha of the nutcracker doll backfires when the doll decides to move in. Masha is a pre-slut---one of those pretty clueless girls who start to ooze sexuality and have no one to protect them. At age 14 you see trouble coming; when you see them next at age 17, the damage has been done. After the Prince wins the battle with the rats, Masha is ready. She does a provocative thank-you dance for the Prince. This includes, to some of Tchaikovsky's most sonorous and elevated music, the most shocking incident in any ballet I've seen. She wallows on her back before her swain, spreads her legs wide, and flashes her crotch directly at him---a move that has for all time been universally taboo for girls and respectable women. This wins the Prince over and away they go in a shoe.

Next up is the snowstorm. Chemiakin dresses the female corps in all black (yes--tutus). They bump and grind, wallow on their backs to display black petticoats and panties, and otherwise "dance up a storm" while the members of the children's choir parade around made up like living corpses in white burial shrouds.

Finally we make it the the sweet shop in Act. 2. There's plenty of weirdness there too, but with the incidental dances we get a wee break from the battle of the sexes. Soon the nutcracker doll is revealed as a real handsome Prince. With both straps of her dress hanging off her shoulders, Masha dances lasciviously in the Pas de deux. But strangely, the Prince exceeds expectations. He dances properly and chastely as any decent handsome Prince is want to do. And right away there follows a grand wedding march and Masha has got her guy! Why is this little tramp Masha so lucky?

Outside in the cold, Drosselmeyer is having a fit over the loss of his easy target. He crashes the party. All the characters in the story have been turned into candies. The newlyweds, who have been transformed into dolls, stand on the top a giant wedding cake. Rats are busy eating the cake. H'mm. The Prince was so nice because he's a fraud! Masha, who only wanted security and love, has been transformed into a token of conspicuous consumption. She will see the trappings of wealth. But the Price will beat her every day except Sunday, when he will start the week off right by beating her twice. She will be his slave until the rats have finished the cake, and then he will discard her. (If you don't like this interpretation, make up your own.)

As problematical an this version is, several things are clear. Irina Gulub as Masha is an excellent dancer who is fun to watch. Also, the music on this disc is played and recorded exceptionally well in loss-less sound.

And so, dear reader, you probably see by now that this Nutcracker is not for children or a good idea for your happy holiday party in your home theater. If you watch this show, be prepared to decide if it is reprehensible rubbish, trenchant social satire, or something else.