Tchaikovsky by Arrangement - The Nutcracker & the Mouse King / Mauceri, RSNO

$15.99
Label
Toccata
Release Date
October 6, 2023
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      John Mauceri, Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Royal Scottish National Orchestra
    • PERFORMER
      Alan Cumming
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      October 06, 2023
    • UPC
      5060113447043
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      TOCC0704
    • LABEL
      Toccata
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Orchestral & Symphonic
    Works ⌄

    1. Overture

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    2. Part I, Nuremberg, 1416: Once a Long Time Ago

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    3. Part I, Nuremberg, 1416: The Mousetrap!

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    4. Part I, Nuremberg, 1416: Princess Pirlipat

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    5. Part I, Nuremberg, 1416: The Curse

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    6. Part I, Nuremberg, 1416: Searching for a Cure

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    7. Part I, Nuremberg, 1416: The Krakatuk Nut

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    8. Part I, Nuremberg, 1416: The Curse Is Lifted

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    9. Part I, Nuremberg, 1416: The Mouse Queen's Death

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    10. Transition: The Drosselmeyers

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    11. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: Christmas Eve

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    12. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: Godfather Drosselmeyer

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    13. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: The Miniature Marzipan Castle

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    14. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: The Nutcracker

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    15. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: Stranger Things

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    16. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: The Great Battle

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    17. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: After the Dream

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    18. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: Drosselmeyer's Story

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    19. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: Marie's Devotion

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    20. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: The Mouse King Returns

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    21. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: Fritz's Sabre

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    22. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: The Great Voyage Begins

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    23. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: Candy Meadow

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    24. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: The Mechanical Ballet Troupe

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    25. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: Sailing on Rose Petals

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    26. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: The Capital City

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    27. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: The Marzipan Castle

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    28. Part II, Nuremberg, 1816: Empty Twaddle!

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    29. Part III, Nuremberg, 1834 - Today: As Time Goes By

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    30. Part III, Nuremberg, 1834 - Today: Nathaniel Drosselmeyer

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    31. Part III, Nuremberg, 1834 - Today: The King's Proposal

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri

    32. Part III, Nuremberg, 1834 - Today: Epilogue

      Composer: John Mauceri

      Ensemble: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

      Performer: Alan Cumming

      Conductor: John Mauceri


Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, which has its origins in a novella by E. T. A. Hoffmann, contains some of the best-loved music ever written. But its composer wasn’t very happy with it, perhaps because the plot he was given to work with allowed him to present only a series of dances, losing the moral basis of Hoffman’s surprisingly modern tale, with its messages of inclusivity and what is now called ‘women’s agency’ – here it is the little girl who saves the prince. Hoffmann’s aspirational story continues well after the ballet ends, with the little girl, now grown up, marrying the prince, who is now king.

John Mauceri has brought the ballet back to its inspiration, calling on music from elsewhere in Tchaikovsky’s orchestral output to fashion this ‘re-telling’, marrying Hoffmann’s text and Tchaikovsky’s music for the first time.

REVIEW:

While this album is entitled “Tchaikovsky by Arrangement” (part of Toccata’s series that includes arrangements of Mozart, Wagner, Prokofiev, and Brahms among others), the main clue is in its subtitle: “A Retelling by John Mauceri.” Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker is a very condensed reworking of the original tale. In Mauceri’s retelling, the conductor has written a fairy-tale narrative based on the broader “Story of the Nutcracker,” published by Alexandre Dumas in 1845, which in turn was a retelling of the original story, Nussknacker und Mausekönig (The Nutcracker and the Mouse King) by E. T. A. Hoffmann, published in 1816. What’s more, Mauceri has created a pastiche of Tchaikovsky’s works to accompany Alan Cumming’s almost nonstop narration with music from not just The Nutcracker but also The Tempest, Hamlet, The Snow Maiden, and Orchestral Suite No. 1 (its fourth-movement miniature “Marche Militaire” serves as Mauceri’s overture). The final product really is quite an achievement.

— Fanfare