“Traditional Festive Fun”
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s Nutcracker was not a performance of the famous ballet. Instead the piece chose to highlight the music and storytelling of the show, putting a spotlight on the musicians who are often tucked away in the pit. Whilst this certainly means there was much less in the way of visual spectacle compared to the ballet, the show was a fun and festive night out.
The musicians, led by conductor Maxim Emelyanychev, played through the full score as opposed to the traditional Nutcracker Suite. This meant that lesser known sections of Tchaikovsky’s score were highlighted, which was nothing short of lovely. Unsurprisingly the musicians were all incredibly good at their instruments, and played together as a tight and focused unit. It was also a wonderful treat to hear the celeste being played live by Peter Evans, I feel that it is impossible to hear the celeste and not feel festive and enchanted. The score is more than strong enough to stand on its own, and it was lovely that the SCO took the opportunity to play through the full score. The choir helped tie it all together, with some angelic moments.
One would be forgiven for going into the show with a level of skepticism about how visually interesting it would be. The piece was, after all, composed to be a ballet. However, stripping back some of the spectacle, allowed the audience to appreciate the movement of the musicians. Stripped back visual spectacle does not mean there was nothing of visual interest. The different sections picking up their instruments and playing together formed a kind of dance all on their own. It was really wonderful to be able to track the movement of the music with the movement of the musicians, and it felt as though one could clearly follow individual musical lines.
My only sticking point with the show was the approach to the narrative. As stated earlier, the Christmas classic was composed as a ballet, and therefore there is a defined narrative that runs through the entire piece. A girl named Clara receives the titular nutcracker for Christmas, that comes to life on account of festive magic. She embarks on a successful war against the evil mouse king, and is thanked for her efforts with a celebration in the Land of Sweets. The approach the SCO took to the narrative was to have Associate Composer Jay Capperauld present a plot summary of each act before the musicians played. Whilst I understand why the decision was made, I couldn’t help but feel distracted at points, trying to map the plot onto the music. It needed either more signposting throughout the act, perhaps between movements, or no signposting at all, and the music should have been trusted to stand on its own.
Something that struck me was the incredible diversity of age in the audience. Everyone from the elderly to young families had gathered to listen to Tchaikovsky’s timeless score. It was a timely reminder of togetherness and commonality during these dark winter nights.