Staging & Choreography: John Neumeier • Sets & Costumes: Jürgen Rose • Musical Direction: Azim Karimov
There are Nutcrackers that simply serve tradition, and others that reshape it to rediscover its meaning. John Neumeier’s version clearly belongs to the latter: an initiation story where the familiar fairy-tale codes shift toward a narrative of artistic formation — the classroom, the studio, the rehearsal hall — with Ballet Master Drosselmeier as mentor rather than magician. The idea is simple yet powerful: replacing decorative spectacle with the inner journey of a young dancer, her trials, her hesitations, her promise. Jürgen Rose’s sets and costumes make this vision tangible: clear spaces, warm textures, transitions that seem to glide almost without music.
On Tchaikovsky’s score, Azim Karimov conducts with exemplary poise: broad tempi without heaviness, crisp accents, and a sense of breathing that gives the choreography room to speak. No syrup, no starch — just a luminous clarity that supports Neumeier’s dramatic arc. The orchestra responds with refinement: woodwinds adding colour, strings deepening the texture without weighing it down.
At the heart of the evening is Louise, Neumeier’s heroine, danced by Laurretta Summerscales. She creates a vivid character: noble line, precise presence, supple musicality. What stands out most is her ability to tell the story between the steps — listening to transitions, never freezing the gesture. In the studio scenes, Summerscales captures that adolescent vibration, poised between restraint and impulse, making the journey entirely believable.
Opposite her, Julian MacKay as Günther brings clarity and drive: clean silhouettes, sharp landings, and a partnership with Summerscales that avoids overstatement. In the big lifts, everything is on point; in the lyrical passages, he knows how to extend the line beyond the note.
Severin Brunhuber as Ballet Master Drosselmeier draws one of the richest roles in this version: neither sorcerer nor puppeteer, but a true guide. His pantomime is subtle, never forced; his stage presence, precise. He anchors the narrative — challenging, reassuring, framing — often all at once.
The family circle is finely sketched: Florian Ulrich Sollfrank (Consul Stahlbaum) and Margarita Grechanaia (Frau Stahlbaum) provide a sober, credible backdrop that grounds the opening in a social world. Lizi Avsajanishvili (Marie) brings immediate freshness, while Frederick Stuckwisch(Fritz) sparks the action with well‑controlled energy. The ensemble benefits from Neumeier’s grammar: clear lines, group dramaturgy that never relegates the corps to mere decoration.
Musically, the Waltz of the Flowers flows without excess sweetness, the Snow Scene without heaviness, and the Grand Pas feels like a progression rather than an isolated showpiece. Karimov lets the music breathe; rubato exists but remains danceable, giving the stage time to move without chasing the orchestra. The result is continuity — that pleasant sense of gliding from sequence to sequence without breaking the spell.
Cast
- Musical Direction: Azim Karimov
- Staging & Choreography: John Neumeier
- Sets & Costumes: Jürgen Rose
- Music: Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Principal Roles
- Louise: Laurretta Summerscales
- Günther: Julian MacKay
- Ballet Master Drosselmeier: Severin Brunhuber
- Consul Stahlbaum: Florian Ulrich Sollfrank
- Frau Stahlbaum: Margarita Grechanaia
- Marie: Lizi Avsajanishvili
- Fritz: Frederick Stuckwisch
