# Rank the Tchaikovsky ballets



## Pyotr

Please rank the Tchaikovsky ballets, from most favorite to least favorite. 

I love them all but if I had to choose, Swan Lake is my favorite, followed by The Sleeping Beauty and then The Nutcracker.


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## realdealblues

I have never watched a ballet performance of any of them so I'm just going off the music.

I still have a warm spot in my heart for the music of The Nutcracker, probably because I heard it first.

Sleeping Beauty is probably my next favorite followed by Swan Lake. I think all 3 are all excellent though.


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## Art Rock

I miss the option "I like all of them". Not the very best (that would be the Sacre and Daphnis & Chloe), but very good indeed.


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## Tristan

Definitely hard for me to rank them. I love them all; the greatest ballets ever written. I would probably put _Swan Lake_ first, just because it's a masterpiece in my opinion. The other two, though, harder to rank.


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## spradlig

I don't understand why so many people dump on the Nutcracker. It is filled with tons of beautiful music and melody, not just in the Suite, but throughout the whole ballet. I doubt that there is a measure of "filler" in the whole piece. Maybe because it's overperformed at the expense of other ballets.

Tchaikovsky's other ballets are also great and I don't know them well enough to argue that the Nutcracker is the best. That's not my point.

Of course, this is a matter of taste, like so much in music.


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## Itullian

Definitely Nutcracker first, one of the greatest works ever written.
then SL, SB.


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## Couac Addict

About 30mins of the Nutcracker is top-shelf work. It really is first class. Unfortunately, the other 90mins is just dancing mice and stuff.

The first half hour is like watching Christmas with the Von Trapp children, except the kids all have ADHD. 
The family all go to bed. The clock strikes midnight and some creepy old guy manifests like Poe's Raven on top of the grandfather clock.
This is when the production starts trippin'. The mice are dancing. The gingerbread men are marching.
Our young heroine assists in the assassination of a monarch. The usual stuff.
It's all done with such aplomb, that you will scarcely believe that you have left the opium den.

My advice is to wait at the bar until the 2nd act. It's still crazy but this is where all the best music has been stashed to prevent parents from going home at the interval. It also has the ballet. 

The first act is like panto but without the C-list celebrities trying to convince themselves that their first love is the theatre.


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## Pyotr

You forgot to mention the Christmas Tree growing, which in reality represents Clara shrinking down to the size of her toys. Balanchine changed Clara's name to Marie for some odd reason, perhaps it sounds more Christmassy.








*The original production of The Nutcracker, 1892*


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## Chi_townPhilly

Hmmm... the top voting result (at the time of posting) is an option that has The Nutcracker first. Second place is an option that has the Nutcracker third.

It's my modest (not Modest... but modest) opinion that *Swan Lake* has the greatest ballet music ever penned by man. I'm passionate about it the way I'm passionate about late-period Bruckner- and (pretty much) all of Wagner.


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## mstar

Chi_townPhilly said:


> It's my modest (not Modest... but modest


Ohh, that's heartwarming! I thought of Modest when I went to see my school's play last year, imagined his critique, and attempted not to laugh! 

Oh, Modest....  (And don't accuse me of liking Modest just because of his brother, we know which. Because that would be partially true.)


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## mstar

Pyotr said:


> You forgot to mention the Christmas Tree growing, which in reality represents Clara shrinking down to the size of her toys. Balanchine changed Clara's name to Marie for some odd reason, perhaps it sounds more Christmassy.
> 
> View attachment 26801
> 
> *The original production of The Nutcracker, 1892*


Speaking of which, do you know Dolly Zoom? I've been obsessed lately, I'd probably ask Aleazk about it, he may know a thing or two.


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## Il_Penseroso

My Ranking:

1.Swan Lake/ Sleeping Beauty/ Nutcracker
2......
3......


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## yelu

Sleeping Beauty is def good, but thus far i've seen any satisfactory cast..ABT, NYBT..you name it


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## elgar's ghost

Musically, I can't really say - between them there's not that much difference in overall quality as far as I'm concerned.

For the visuals I'd put the Nutcracker first as there's more going on, more colourful. Couac's semi-trashing of the plot was a ripping read, though!


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## Dupamplont

_Swan Lake_ all the way through, but I prefer certain moments of _Nutcracker_. I visited Novodevichy Convent in Moscow and was told its lake supposedly inspired Tchaikovsky to write _Swan Lake_ and I've checked that comment and too often the word "supposedly" is inserted, which makes me suspect that lake and _Swan Lake_ aren't connected at all. (Makes me think of Mark Twain's nonfiction _The Innocents Abroad _ where his tour guides' comments so often turned out to be false, Twain became dubious of all historical claims.)


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## nightscape

Based on music alone, I'm going with the majority on this one.


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## MoonlightSonata

I adore the Nutcracker, with its charms and delights. I love the sublime Swan Lake. I enjoy the Sleeping Beauty, but prefer the other two.


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## ArgumentativeOldGit

I love all three. It's impossible to choose, as they're so different. _Swan Lake_ is the most passionate, _Nutcracker_ the most charming (yes, that first act as well!), while _Sleeping Beauty_ is just radiant. Eventually, I ranked them:

Sleeping Beauty
Nutcracker
Swan Lake

It strikes me that these may well be the least frequently heard of Romantic masterpieces. The concert suites are effectively "bleeding chunks", and don't do justice to the full scores; and even in ballet performances, there tend to be cuts and re-orderings (certainly in the first two), and, in the case of _Swan Lake_, occasionally some interpolated music. I'd love to see orchestras programme the entire scores: the music is certainly strong enough to sustain the interest even without the dancing.


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## hpowders

The best most sophisticated, like it or not is Sleeping Beauty.

I'm a sucker for Nutcracker, but I would honestly have to rate them:

1. Sleeping Beauty

2. Swan Lake

3. Nutcracker


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## Animato

Like so many others here in this thread, I like the Nutcracker most. The music just after the battle is overwhelming. And I could hear the "Pas des deux" for hours. 

I also like The Sleeping Beauty. The Roses-Adagio is one of the very few pieces of music, which is able to distract me from the Nutcracker's "Pas des deux".

And I have to say, I don't really like Swan Lake (besides the Walz). I don't know why.


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## Harri

Really tough decision between Nutcracker or Swan lake first... But I think Swan Lake wins, just because of the rich, whole beauty throughout the work. But Nutcracker is a very close second, with such a variety of emotions throughout. Sleeping beauty is undoubtedly still a wonderful ballet, but not one I am as familiar with.


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## Speranza

The music of the Nutcracker is magical but I find the story a bit disjointed. Also watched the Fantasia version alot before I ever saw the ballet so a part of me still subconciously thinks Tchaikovsky rearranged the music wrong! The power of Disney

Nice to know others prefer Sleeping Beauty as well

1. Sleeping Beauty
2. Swan Lake
3. The Nutcracker


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## Albert7

1) Swan Lake (best)
2) Sleeping Beauty
3) The Nutcracker

Swan Lake is the best because it has the most awesome music.


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## Queen of the Nerds

Moonlightsonata and Harri: 
I totally agree! Sleeping Beauty is great, especially the "Rose Adagio" but Swan Lake and the Nutcracker are just AMAZING!!!


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## millionrainbows

On the radio this morning, I heard The Tempest. They said that although it was not written as a ballet, Nuriev choreographed it sometime in the 1980s. That's interesting, don't you think?


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## Becca

How about all the ballets which were choreographed on Tchaikovsky's other orchestral works? 

Allegro Brillante - Piano Concerto #3
Serenade - Serenade for Strings
Suite #3 and Theme & Variations - 3rd Suite for Orchestra
Mozartiana - 4th Suite for Orchestra
Jewels - Symphony #3

And if someone hasn't also done the 2nd suite, I would be very surprised.


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## Rosie

I loooove!!!!! Tchaikovsky's ballet music, it's so pretty!


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## Pugg

All are great, not to often though


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## znapschatz

I would have voted for *The Nutcracker*, and possibly I have. What I don't understand is that this thread was started more than 2 years before I joined Talkclassical and have no recollection of coming across it until today. Could this be a metaphysical moment, or just a memory lapse?


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## perempe

off:
today I went to hike and I sang the theme of 'Trepak' to my 70-year-old buddy. He said it reminded him to 'Drunken sailor.'


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## Woodduck

1) Sleeping Beauty
2) Nutcracker
3) Swan Lake

_ Sleeping Beauty_ is an immense flood of sumptuous Romanticism, endlessly inventive in its melody and orchestration, but I may rank it above_ Nutcracker_ only because there's a lot more of it. _Swan Lake_ is just as rich in melody and more poignant, but less interesting orchestrally.


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## Pugg

[​
*Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker* (Complete Ballet) & Serenade For Strings
_L.S.O/ Antal Dorati _
Very highly rated .


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## kclass

I wonder how Russian people feel on this.


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## Pugg

kclass said:


> I wonder how Russian people feel on this.


We do have some Russian members, so who knows they will reply your question.


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## Lukecash12

Il_Penseroso said:


> My Ranking:
> 
> 1.Swan Lake/ Sleeping Beauty/ Nutcracker
> 2......
> 3......


Brilliant ranking system :tiphat: The Nutcracker has to go up top for me because of the Waltz of the Flowers alone. Then Sleeping Beauty came in a hair behind Swan Lake.


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## bestellen

I love all. However, hands down I would chose Swan Lake. It has drama, tension and darkness in it, which the other two ballets lack.


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## jegreenwood

This:






"Serenade" was the first ballet Balanchine created in America, and it remains among his most popular. Balanchine is credited with saying, "See the music; hear the dance." This is where that way to experience ballet began for me. I still try to see it every year it is on the schedule.

The video is not great quality, but I think the upload was authorized. The Balanchine Trust is very protective, but this (as well as several other performances from the same source) has been up for a while now.


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## Judith

Very hard as I love all three of them, but went for

Swan Lake
Nutcracker
Sleeping Beauty


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## hpowders

Nutcracker
Swan Lake
Sleeping Beauty


Ohhh! Goodie! My preferred order is out in front. A wonderful Sunday surprise!!


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## Jacred

Judith said:


> Very hard as I love all three of them, but went for
> 
> Swan Lake
> Nutcracker
> Sleeping Beauty


Same! Although it's more like a tie between Swan Lake and Nutcracker. That option doesn't exist.


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## jlspinks

For me it would be: Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty.

Someone else mentioned that Nutcracker was the first they heard and so preferred. Same here. When I was in elementary school the Dallas Symphony toured the public schools with the Nutcracker Suite and similar works. I was hooked even from that early age.


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