Birmingham Royal Ballet’s enchanting production of The Nutcracker remains a firm festive favourite with Midlands audiences. But whilst eyes are fixed on what’s happening on stage, there’s another kind of magic being conjured up in the orchestra pit below. What’s On recently caught up with the company’s music director, Paul Murphy, to find out more... 

Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker has some of the best known and most loved music of any ballet. From the Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy to the Dance Of The Mirlitons, the ballet’s tunes have enchanted audiences for generations.

The music is an integral reason why The Nutcracker remains so popular today - and for Birmingham Royal Ballet’s (BRB) production, a great deal of work goes into ensuring that every note is perfect.
Music Director Paul Murphy certainly knows a thing or two about The Nutcracker, having been involved in numerous performances since he joined BRB in 1992, just two years after Sir Peter Wright created the company’s iconic production. And Paul says it is one of the most popular scores for a very good reason.

“Tchaikovsky wrote three ballet scores, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. The Nutcracker is the third chronologically, and I don’t think a lot of people would dispute that it’s also the best. It’s more concise than the other two, but it’s like a jewel; a pearl in an oyster shell. 

“It’s perfection musically - quite symphonic in Act One, whereas Act Two follows the classic 19th-century ballet tradition of divertissements, which are short, characterful, balletic episodes. Every one of these is astounding in terms of scoring and orchestral colours.”

The Nutcracker score is performed by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, the company’s permanent orchestra.

The musicians initially rehearse the work in London and come to Birmingham Hippodrome for final rehearsals ahead of opening night.

The orchestra needs fewer rehearsals for The Nutcracker than most other works because the musicians are largely familiar with it - but it still has its challenges.

“It’s not an easy score to play, even though we’ve been performing it since 1990,” says Paul, who studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music. “It poses technical challenges for every section of the orchestra, but Tchaikovsky also allows each solo instrument to shine.

“It’s also difficult for the conductor, particularly in Act One. There are many pitfalls where we must be ultra careful with the pacing, clarity and the shaping. It needs to feel that we are building the drama, leading towards the battle with the rats and the soldiers, as well as navigating the rhythmically tricky Waltz Of The Snowflakes, complete with children’s choir!”

But the results are there for all to hear.

“A lot of the distinct beauty of the music is down to Tchaikovsky’s instrumentation. For example, he introduced the celeste - a keyboard instrument invented only six years before the ballet’s premiere - for the very first time into symphonic repertoire in The Nutcracker.

“Legend has it that he smuggled the instrument into Russia so that his colleagues Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov wouldn’t get hold of it before he did! Can you imagine a more perfect sound for the Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy?

“Then there are other instrumental choices, such as the three flutes for the Dance Of The Mirlitons, the plaintive oboe and cor anglais in the Arabian Dance, the tambourine in the Trepak and the luscious cellos in the Grand Pas de Deux. Sheer genius.”

Paul became BRB’s principal conductor in 1997 and took over as music director earlier this year. Over the years, he has conducted countless BRB ballets, as well as performing as guest conductor with numerous companies across the globe, including New York City Ballet, The National Ballet of Japan, Tokyo Ballet, Acosta Danza and BalletBoyz. He admits to having a soft spot for BRB’s The Nutcracker.
“Even though I’ve been conducting it since 1992, I’ve never tired of it. Every performance feels like a fresh start to me, and of course the piece’s appeal is obvious because it reaches out to families.

“Children of all ages can be captivated by the Sugar Plum Fairy, by the spectacle of having the fireplace transform, by the huge goose flying across the stage, by Drosselmeyer with all his magic tricks, and of course the amazing Christmas tree. And especially by the wonderment of Clara, who represents the child in all of us.

“It’s a very special piece both visually and aurally. I don’t think it will ever lose its appeal. That’s why it has remained in the repertory of most ballet companies around the world. It is the most unique ballet ever created.”

As music director, Paul is responsible for musical standards across the company, including its trailblazing Constant Lambert Conducting Fellowship, which offers a young conductor two years of intensive mentoring with BRB and Royal Ballet.

“The Constant Lambert Fellowship is special. No-one else around the world is doing this for ballet. We are leading the way in Birmingham and London by creating conducting opportunities in ballet for young conductors. 

“So far, we have been so lucky, not just in the quality of the conductors but also in the fact that they’ve wanted to remain with us after the process. So we’ve built up a very fine pool of guest conductors because of the Fellowship.”

This year’s Constant Lambert Fellow, Yi Wei from China, will be conducting some performances of The Nutcracker, as well as the company’s upcoming production of Cinderella - which tours the UK between February and April - and one work in the Ashton Classics programme, which plays at the city’s Symphony Hall on Saturday 15 February.

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s The Nutcracker underwent a major rebuild two years ago, with new sets and costumes, and Paul says the results are amazing.

“My goodness, the opening scene when the curtain goes up is what we call the Red Room, and it was only when it was refurbished that we were able to remember the vividness of the red. The designer, John Macfarlane, had clearly envisioned a room which was beautifully opulent. This is now very apparent, as well as many other restorations to sets and costumes that have greatly enhanced the production.”

Feature by Diane Parkes

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker shows at Birmingham Hippodrome until Sat 14 December