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The Enchanting History of Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, featuring the celesta’s magical sound, became iconic through The Nutcracker. Initially criticized, its popularity soared via Disney’s Fantasia and ...
The New York Times

The Revolutionary Sound at the Heart of a Holiday Classic

Listen to how Tchaikovsky uses the celesta in “The Nutcracker,” unleashing the potential of the instrument to signal playfulness and fantasy. By Joshua Barone Photographs and Video by Vincent Tullo ...
WLRN

Miami City Ballet’s swan song for a Sugar Plum Fairy in the ‘Nutcracker’

Weeks ahead of “George Balanchine’s ‘The Nutcracker,’ ” the Sugar Plum Fairy is getting ready to entertain. Her wand at hand, she has magic to command. At her palace in the Land of the Sweets the ...
Jambands

Disco Biscuits Perform “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” for First-Time Since 2022 During NYE Stand in Philadelphia

After officially commencing their New Year’s Eve run at The Fillmore in Silver Springs, Md., on Dec. 27 and following up the next night at the same venue with an onslaught of nonstop entertainment, ...
The New York Times

What Does a Sugar Plum Fairy Sound Like?

In the 1890s, when the Russian composer Tchaikovsky was preparing to write the music for the ballet that would become his holiday classic, “The Nutcracker,” he encountered a brand-new instrument: the ...