The Nutcracker (complete ballet)

"The Russian National Orchestra under Mikhail Pletnev highlights the delicacy of Tchaikovsky's orchestration. Even the more solemn moments have a wit and irreverence about them, as if the players are smiling to themselves as they play."
(Daily Telegraph)

Building on the great success of their previous Swan Lake recording, This CD features star conductor Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra with the complete ballet music from The Nutcracker by Peter Tchaikovsky.

The Nutcracker is an absolute masterpiece of Russian orchestral music, and perhaps the crowning achievement of Tchaikovsky's artistic output. It benefits from enormous popularity worldwide and among a wide range of audiences.

Mikhail Pletnev is recognized as a reference performer of Tchaikovsky's music, and in particular of The Nutcracker; his unrivalled piano transcriptions of Nutcracker Suite were selected for the 1998 Anthology "Great Pianists of the 20th Century" (Philips Classics).

Since founded by Pletnev in 1990, the RNO has quickly reached a position at the top of Russian orchestras, as well as among the top ten of international orchestras (as listed by Gramophone). The orchestra's very first CD release in 1991 featured Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony, hailed by Gramophone as this symphony's best recording in history; further great recordings on Deutsche Grammophon and PentaTone have garnered a Grammy Award and numerous other accolades.