He knew all about clocks, and could even make them. Councillor Drosselmeier was a very ingenious man himself. He was bald, so he wore a very fine white wig made of glass, a most ingenious piece of work. Legal Councillor Drosselmeier ws not a handsome man he was small and thin, with a wrinkled face, and he had a big black patch over his right eye. It is a family Christmas, and Fritz and Marie (Clara in the ballet) are enjoying the presents brought by their Godfather Drosselmeier who makes automata and clockwork toys. Needless to say the ballet is based upon a dumbed-down version written for children by Alexandre Dumas (père), and Hoffmann’s original is much darker. I was thinking of this as I read the original story of The Nutcracker this Christmas, another classic fairy tale by German Romantic author ETA Hoffmann, whom I discovered a couple of weeks ago for the first time when I read The Sandman, (reviewed here). See this clip from the 2008 production at the ROH – That’s how to do the tree properly! I had two favourite bits – The Russian Dance in Act II for the music and dancing, but for the real WOW! moment – it’s got to be when everyone’s gone to bed except Clara and Drosselmeier, and the Christmas tree grows. It was my favourite of the Christmas ballets although I got to see bigger ballet stars in Cinderellaor The Sleeping Beauty in other years, I loved The Nutcracker the best.

My mum was a huge ballet fan, and it was a much-anticipated Christmas treat to be taken to London to the ballet to see The Nutcracker, preferably at the Royal Opera House for a grander experience and better tree (see below).

Nutcracker book eta hoffmann