"The Nutcracker" is the third and final ballet by the genius Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The story is based on the fairy tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E. T. A. Hoffmann. The story begins when twelve-year-old Marie receives a nutcracker doll as a gift, which comes to life at night. The first performance based on the libretto by the great Marius Petipa took place in 1892, and the premiere of the ballet in the version by Vasily Vainonen, in which "The Nutcracker" will be presented to the audience, was in 1934. Later, this version of the ballet was restored in 1954 with the design by Simon Virsaladze. At the end of the last century, in 1890, Tchaikovsky began working on two commissions for the Imperial Theatres. The maestro was writing a ballet and a one-act opera. The fairy tale "The Daughter of King René" by the Danish writer Hertz became the plot basis for the future opera "Iolanta". For the ballet, the choice was made on the fairy tale "The Nutcracker" by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann. The renowned Marius Petipa was responsible for the choreography and libretto of the ballet. The premiere took place in December 1892, the ballet was not very positively received by critics, but it gained success with the audience. The duration of the Mariinsky Theatre's performance is 2 hours and 45 minutes. The show runs with two intermissions. For more performances in St. Petersburg, check out our website in the theatre section.