18th December 1892: Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker receives its première performance at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg

Composed in the Romantic style, the score received good reviews although responses to the ballet itself were mostly negative. The fortunes of the ballet only turned around with a new staging in New York in 1954.

18th December 1892: Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker first performed

On the 18th December 1892, Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker received its première performance at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.