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 ...

Members of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in a production of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker." It’s a perennial holiday favorite but it took a long time to grow into a classic. The United States was ...

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 ...

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 ballet The Nutcracker is a magical musical journey to the land where all good dreams come true. Ever child-like in his fascination with an exotic idea or an unusual sound, Tchaikovsky ...

“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 ...

The Nutcracker ballet by Tchaikovsky is loosely based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's fantasy The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. A girl befriends a nutcracker that comes to life on Christmas Eve and wages a ...

Disney’s new adaptation of The Nutcracker will have gingerbread soldiers, an army of mice and the sugar plum fairy grace our screens this Christmas. Here's everything you need to know from the cast to ...

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 ...