Nutcracker Dances with Stock and Fiedler

To me the Nutcracker music never gets old and remains a magical evocation of Christmas time, even with the overuse of some of its most popular moments in television ads.

Today's post takes us back to a time before the first recording of the complete Nutcracker ballet music. Until 1954, all you could find were suites, mainly Tchaikovsky's own op. 71a suite, and that's what we have here, in a November 1939 recording from Frederick Stock and the Chicago Symphony, made in Orchestra Hall.

Frederick Stock

At that time, Stock had been the CSO's music director for 33 years and would continue in that post until his death in 1942. This 78 set, with its Alex Steinweiss cover, is actually a reissue that followed Stock's passing.

The other set of Nutcracker dances in this post makes a good complement for the Stock set, for it includes five other memorable dances that were not included by the composer in his suite, including the Waltz of the Snowflakes, the Pas de Deux and the final waltz. These were presumably chosen by the conductor, Arthur Fiedler, for this recording with the Boston Pops. As far as I can tell, it was issued in 1949, on an early RCA 45 set. At this time, RCA was color-coding its vinyl issues, with the Red Seal issues being pressed on red vinyl. (See examples of the different colors at this site, or in my basement.)

Arthur Fiedler

Fiedler was conductor of the Boston Pops for an amazing 49 years, until his death in 1979.

Both performances are quite good - with the strings of the Boston ensemble in particularly glorious form. The Chicago recording is more vivid, although will some distortion in the louder passages (which may be just my pressing - or my transfer, I guess). Stock is a little more yielding; Fiedler can be businesslike. But both are most enjoyable.