Today begin the performances of “The Nutcracker” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The series of performances will continue until the 5^th of January and the ballet will be performed eleven times.

“The Nutcracker” tells the story of a young girl who waits for her Christmas present in vain on Christmas Eve. When she receives a nutcracker: a soldier in a beautiful uniform, she doesn’t yet realize a magical adventure awaits her.

The ballet was performed for the first time on the 18^th of December, 1892, in Saint Petersburg but wasn’t as successful as expected. A few years later however, Tchaikovsky’s score becomes one of his most famous works. The full version of “The Nutcracker” has enjoyed a huge popularity since the middle of the 20^th century and is still performed by many ballet troupes today, mainly around Christmas. The first choreographer of “The Nutcracker” was Marius Petipa in collaboration with his assistant Lev Ivanov. Eventually, a series of other choreographers made substantial changes to Petipa’s version which however remains as the basis for all classic productions of the ballet.

In the spirit of tradition, the Sofia Opera sets “The Nutcracker” on the days around Christmas. In the eleven performances you can see our national ballet stars: Boryana Petrova, Emil Yordanov, Frederico Pinto, Katerina Petrova, Tsetso Ivanov, Marta Petkova, Nikola Hadzhitanev, Rumen Bonev, our lead dancers and our corps de ballet. Conductor: Boris Spasov. Tickets are still sought after even though the Christmas and New Year performances have been sold out for a long time now.