Renee Montagne talks with Miles Hoffman about the history of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite. Hoffman is the violist of the American Chamber Players, and authored The NPR Classical Music Companion.

As temperatures descend, something inevitable is in the air. The time of year has arrived for productions of "The Nutcracker" to proliferate around the globe. Prepare for an onslaught of rising ...

How did Tchaikovsky’s ballet become a staple of the festive season? Clemency Burton-Hill goes in search of The Nutcracker’s universal appeal. It’s as quintessentially Christmassy as mince pies, fir ...

Listen to how Tchaikovsky uses the celesta in “The Nutcracker,” unleashing the potential of the instrument to signal playfulness and fantasy. By Joshua Barone Photographs and Video by Vincent Tullo ...

It’s impossible to imagine the Christmas season without “The Nutcracker,” a beloved ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Written in 1892, this two-act classical ballet remains a symbol of the holiday ...

It's Nutcracker season and venues across the country are filling up with the sounds of sugar plum fairies and waltzing flowers. While visiting Paris, Tchaikovsky heard Victor Mustel's new invention: ...

Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker is a ballet for a certain time of year. It's charmed Christmas audiences over the years with its range of gorgeous music and romantic imagery, but the performances and ...

“As far as I can remember, I have never before, during any phase of my life, felt as miserable as I do now.” Tchaikovsky said this during the time he was composing The Nutcracker because, surprisingly ...

Are you looking for something festive to do with the family this Thanksgiving weekend? Take them to “The Nutcracker” at the Kennedy Center this Wednesday through Sunday. “You think Christmas, holidays ...

FOR the first time in its 175-year history, the acclaimed State Ballet of Georgia comes to Belfast’s Grand Opera House with a full length production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. The company’s ...

How did Tchaikovsky’s ballet become a staple of the festive season? Clemency Burton-Hill goes in search of The Nutcracker’s universal appeal. So how did a work that has nothing to do with the nativity ...