Peter Wright’s classic production has been around for 25 years and every time it returns to the Royal Opera House stage it reaffirms the incomparable majesty and magic of this Christmas favourite. For this is a Nutcracker to cherish, and the opening night of its current Royal Ballet run did everything to convince me that I’m right to hold it in such high esteem. Happily, the performance was also being filmed for a DVD (to be released late next year) so audiences everywhere will eventually be able to share in its copious pleasures.
Chief among them is the sweet thrill of young romance that courses through Wright’s ballet. So tender and delirious is the puppy love between Clara and her Nutcracker Prince that it would take a heart of stone not to melt in its presence. And then there is the wonder and excitement of a 19th-century German Christmas fulfilling every eager expectation. Julia Trevelyan Oman’s splendid designs evoke the prosperity and festivity of the Stahlbaums’ living room at Christmas, while the sparkling fantasy of the Land of Snow is as inviting as the sugar content of the Kingdom of Sweets. Wright handles his story with exquisite care, savouring every step of Clara’s journey on the cusp of womanhood. And how pretty is the choreography, how full and handsomely framed (Wright both incorporates some of the Lev Ivanov original and adds his own in the style of).
The first cast did everything to bring the ballet alive. Iohna Loots and Ricardo Cervera are the perfect embodiment of Clara and her Prince, sailing into their love story on a wave of ecstasy. Loots is like a beautiful butterfly, Cervera’s handsome enthusiasm (for fighting the Mouse King and winning Clara’s heart) is irresistible.
If Clara and the Nutcracker Prince are the archetypal teenage lovers — spontaneous and swept away — the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince represent love’s profound maturity. No one makes you feel that more than Miyako Yoshida, whose Sugar Plum is a model of poise, authority and musical awareness — just see the way she lets Tchaikovsky’s soaring music fill her every move. Her Prince, Steven McRae on this occasion, didn’t have quite the same command of the Grand Pas de Deux’s aesthetics as she did, but I expect he will grow into them. Elsewhere, there was much crisp dancing, and a fine Drosselmeyer from Gary Avis, who is after all the agent behind everything that happens to Clara on her special night.
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Oh sure, there are quibbles. The sets need a fresh coat of paint; the orchestra (conducted by Koen Kessels) was ragged in places on the first night and the curtain came down too soon, thus spoiling Drosselmeyer’s reconciliation with his beloved nephew. But this remains the finest Nutcracker I have seen in a lifetime of Nutcrackers. There are many more performances, with different casts, but you might want to catch Yoshida’s repeat on Wednesday night. Sadly, this great ballerina is retiring this season.
Box office: 020-7304 4000, to Jan 1