The Nutcracker and the Mouse King Tickets

Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Scene 4 from the ballet "The Nutcracker"

Scene 1 from the ballet "The Nutcracker"

Scene 2 from the ballet "The Nutcracker"

Scene 3 from the ballet "The Nutcracker"

Scene 5 from the ballet "The Nutcracker"

Scene 6 from the ballet "The Nutcracker"

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Available Dates: 28 Dec 2024 - 2 Jan 2025 (7 events)

Important Info

Type: Ballet

City: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Duration: 2h 20min with 1 interval

Intervals: 1

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

Can I choose my seats?

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast

Performers

Choose the date to see the peformers

Creators

Composer: Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Author: Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann

Librettist: Marius Petipa

Choreography: Toer van Schayk

Choreography: Wayne Eagling

Overview

According to German folk legend, nutcrackers bring good luck. And that’s certainly proven true for the international ballet world. Since the premiere of the original version in 1892, The Nutcracker has become the most popular ballet in the world, especially around Christmas time. That’s also the case in the Netherlands, where 325,000 people have already been enchanted by the heart-warming version of the ballet created by Toer van Schayk and Wayne Eagling.

Whereas Marius Petipa took inspiration for his original version from Alexandre Dumas’ adaptation of the Nutcracker story, Van Schayk and Eagling based theirs on the much less sugary and sometimes even rather spine-chilling Nußknacker und Mausekönig (1816) by E.T.A. Hoffmann. But unlike Hoffman’s tale, which takes place on Christmas Eve in a German town, their production is set on the eve of St Nicholas in Amsterdam, around 1810. Eagling and Van Schayk (Van Schayk also designed the sets and costumes) show skaters whirling over the canals of Amsterdam and transform a grand living room in a canal house into a snowy forest. All of this means that their 1996 production of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is still a technical feat of stagecraft, which transports audiences into a magical fairy-tale world.

The protagonist of the ballet is Clara Staalboom, who is preparing for the festivities on the eve of St Nicholas, along with her little brother Fritz and elder sister Louise. While people skate on the canal outside the house, the guests arrive, including the old, eccentric Mr Drosselmeyer and his nephew, a young, handsome naval officer. All the children at the party get presents from St Nicholas and his helper, Piet. Fritz is delighted with his soldier’s outfit and sword, and Clara is over the moon with her nutcracker doll. When she goes to bed, Clara dreams that the doll comes to life, in the guise of Drosselmeyer’s nephew, while she herself turns into a beautiful young woman. Together, they battle the Mouse King and his army of mice, following which they end up inside Drosselmeyer’s magic lantern, which transports them to many far-flung, colourful places.

A heart-warming fairy-tale ballet to lighten the dark days of winter, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is a choreography by Toer van Schayk and Wayne Eagling based on the Christmas classic, and one of the most successful Dutch theatre productions of all time.

Toer van Schayk also designed the sets and costumes for this Nutcracker production, transporting the audience to a world of merriment and magic. His staging is both a visual and technical tour de force in the history of Dutch National Ballet. The skaters on the Amsterdam canal, the living room that swells in Clara's dream and the walls that transform into a snow-dusted forest are all scenes sure to awaken and delight in the child in everyone.

“As I walked down the cobblestone streets of Porvoo, looking at the classic wood houses and the boats on the river, I came up with the notion of a wealthy shipowner as the father of little Klaara.”
– Choreographer, costume and set designer Toer van Schayk

History

Premiere of this production: 06 December 1892, Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg

The Nutcracker (Balet-feyeriya) is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Op. 71). The libretto is adapted from E. T. A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King".

Synopsis

Plot

Below is a synopsis based on the original 1892 libretto by Marius Petipa. The story varies from production to production, though most follow the basic outline. The names of the characters also vary. In the original E. T. A. Hoffmann story, the young heroine is called Marie Stahlbaum and Clara (Klärchen) is her doll's name. In the adaptation by Dumas on which Petipa based his libretto, her name is Marie Silberhaus. In still other productions, such as Baryshnikov's, Clara is Clara Stahlbaum rather than Clara Silberhaus.

Act I

Scene 1: The Stahlbaum Home

It is Christmas Eve. Family and friends have gathered in the parlor to decorate the beautiful Christmas tree in preparation for the party. Once the tree is finished, the children are sent for. They stand in awe of the tree sparkling with candles and decorations.

The party begins. A march is played. Presents are given out to the children. Suddenly, as the owl-topped grandmother clock strikes eight, a mysterious figure enters the room. It is Drosselmeyer, a local councilman, magician, and Clara's godfather. He is also a talented toymaker who has brought with him gifts for the children, including four lifelike dolls who dance to the delight of all. He then has them put away for safekeeping.

Clara and Fritz are sad to see the dolls being taken away, but Drosselmeyer has yet another toy for them: a wooden nutcracker carved in the shape of a little man. The other children ignore it, but Clara immediately takes a liking to it. Fritz, however, breaks it, and Clara is heartbroken.

During the night, after everyone else has gone to bed, Clara returns to the parlor to check on her beloved nutcracker. As she reaches the little bed, the clock strikes midnight and she looks up to see Drosselmeyer perched atop it. Suddenly, mice begin to fill the room and the Christmas tree begins to grow to dizzying heights. The nutcracker also grows to life size. Clara finds herself in the midst of a battle between an army of gingerbread soldiers and the mice, led by their king. They begin to eat the soldiers.

The nutcracker appears to lead the soldiers, who are joined by tin soldiers, and by dolls who serve as doctors to carry away the wounded. As the Mouse King advances on the still-wounded nutcracker, Clara throws her slipper at him, distracting him long enough for the nutcracker to stab him.

Scene 2: A Pine Forest

The mice retreat and the nutcracker is transformed into a handsome Prince. He leads Clara through the moonlit night to a pine forest in which the snowflakes dance around them, beckoning them on to his kingdom as the first act ends.

Act II

Scene 1: The Land of Sweets

Clara and the Prince travel to the beautiful Land of Sweets, ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Prince's place until his return. He recounts for her how he had been saved from the Mouse King by Clara and transformed back into himself. In honor of the young heroine, a celebration of sweets from around the world is produced: chocolate from Spain, coffee from Arabia, tea from China, and candy canes from Russia all dance for their amusement; Danish shepherdesses perform on their flutes; Mother Ginger has her children, the Polichinelles, emerge from under her enormous hoop skirt to dance; a string of beautiful flowers perform a waltz. To conclude the night, the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier perform a dance.

A final waltz is performed by all the sweets, after which the Sugar Plum Fairy ushers Clara and the Prince down from their throne. He bows to her, she kisses Clara goodbye, and leads them to a reindeer drawn sleigh. It takes off as they wave goodbye to all the subjects who wave back.

In the original libretto, the ballet's apotheosis "represents a large beehive with flying bees, closely guarding their riches". Just like Swan Lake, there have been various alternative endings created in productions subsequent to the original.

Venue Info

Dutch National Opera - Amsterdam
Amstel 3

The Dutch National Opera is the largest theatre production house in the Netherlands. Situated in the heart of Amsterdam, the iconic theatre of Dutch National Opera & Ballet offers a magnificent view of the River Amstel and the famous Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge). The various spaces form an inspiring backdrop for a whole range of special events.

Dutch National Opera & Ballet is a young theatre with a long history. The plans for building a new theatre ran parallel to the plans for a new city hall. The first discussions held by the Amsterdam city council about building a new city hall and opera house go back to 1915. At that time, the plans were specifically for an opera house, since ballet was a relatively unknown art form back then.

Ideas for the site of the new city hall and opera house were continually changing, and the idea that both buildings could form a single complex only emerged much later. Sites considered for the new city hall were initially the Dam, followed by the Frederiksplein, and finally the Waterlooplein.

In 1955, the city council commissioned the firm of architects Berghoef and Vegter to draft a design for a city hall on the Waterlooplein. The draft was approved, but in 1964 the council ended the association with the architects, as the final design was nothing like the original plans they had been shown. In 1967, a competition was held for a new design, with the Viennese architect Wilhelm Holzbauer emerging as the winner. Amsterdam's financial problems, however, meant that the plans for the new city hall were put on hold for several years.

DNO has its own choir of sixty singers and technical staff of 260. DNO historically has not had its own resident orchestra, and so various orchestras of the Netherlands, including the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (NPO), the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra (NKO), the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest and the Asko/Schönberg ensemble have provided the orchestral forces for DNO productions.

DNO produces on average eleven productions per year. While most performances are in the Dutch National Opera & Ballet building, the company has also performed in the Stadsschouwburg, at the Carré Theatre, and on the Westergasfabriek industrial site in Amsterdam. For many years, the June production has been organized as part of the Holland Festival and includes the participation of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. DNO has lent its productions to foreign companies, such as the Metropolitan Opera, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Lincoln Center Festival in New York, as well as the Adelaide Festival in Australia.

Since 1988, the French-Lebanese theatre director Pierre Audi has been the artistic director of DNO. Audi is scheduled to conclude his DNO tenure in 2018. In April 2017, DNO announced the appointment of Sophie de Lint as the company's next artistic director, effective 1 September 2018.

Hartmut Haenchen was chief conductor from 1986 to 1999, in parallel with holding the title of chief conductor of the NPO. He subsequently held the title of principal guest conductor with DNO. Subsequent chief conductors have been Edo de Waart (1999-2004) and Ingo Metzmacher (2005-2008). In March 2009, DNO announced the appointment of Marc Albrecht as the orchestra's next chief conductor, with the 2011-2012 season, for an initial contract of four years. This return to a single chief conductor at both DNO and the NPO/NKO allows for the NPO to become the principal opera orchestra for DNO. Albrecht is scheduled to stand down as chief conductor of DNO at the end of the 2019-2020 season.