The 1940 film Fantasia is unique in film history, presenting a series of classical numbers animated by Walt Disney's very imaginative artists. It was a great commercial success from the time where the mass audience was simply expected to appreciate great art. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Tchaikovsky wrote The Nutcracker explicitly as a Christmas story. Disney's animators did an outstanding job providing a winter spectacle.
We used to go to the Nutcracker in Boston for years. It is amazing to see performed live. I believe the Disney Fantasia was animated cel by cel, all hand painted to animate the scenes. Perhaps that was the high point of the Disney experience.
ReplyDeleteGreat music class today.
In 2006, on our one and only trip to New York City, we were able to see the Nutcracker at Lincoln Center by the New York State Ballet. To this day the memory of that event can bring tears to my eyes. It was such aesthetic perfection it was just stunning to see. I told my wife that "you are now spoiled for life. Nothing and no one will ever come close to this."
ReplyDeleteI know it's every ballet companies bread and butter for the year to do it, but times being what they are, we will not willingly set foot in any city big enough to have it anymore.