Nutcracker Suite

A composition by Tchaikovsky arranged by Pletnev. For students who love Tchaikovsky. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Performed by Korean Pianist, Mee-Hyun Ahn
1. March
2. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
3. Trepak Dance
4. In the Christmas Tree
5. Chinese Dance (Tea)
6. Pas De deux: Intrada

She is very musical and confident. She is a real artist :)

Trois mouvements de Petrouchka

Listening to the piano arrangement of orchestral version Petrouchka composed by the amazing composer Igor Stravinsky, you can hear very lively, descriptive multi-levels of musical activity going on at the dimension of time. There is a special "clashed"chord named after the main character of the story "Petrouchka chord" where c major triad and F#major triad are "clashed" together.

The piece is highly challenging as you need a very acute sense of rigid rhythm to maintain the flow of the piece as well as big hands to reach all the big chords. Challenging, yet fun and exciting to listen to.

The story narrates about a russian puppet, Petrouchka who was merely made of straw and dust who came to alive by a special magic flute. He developed human emotions and fell in love with a ballerina but eventually went back to be a broken puppet at the end.

The music was originally composed by Stravinsky for a Ballet. He also made the piano arrangement for his pianist friend Artur Rubinstein. So, imagine playing all the orchestral instruments with your 10 fingers on the 88 keys.

Note in this one, the pianist has omitted some notes from the Petrouchka chord.

If interested in purchasing a recording of this piece, Maurizio Pollini recorded the same piece with Polygram Classics