This is Tchaikovsky's complete Nutcracker score, well-recorded and performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, under the direction of Mark Ermler. First and foremost: If all you've heard of The Nutcracker is the suite, then don't wait another moment before experiencing the full score. Yes, it may be overplayed a bit, but it's undoubtedly a masterpiece, and while 100% of the suite can be heard in the complete version, much of the best music is missing from the suite.

This particular recording is fairly good. The Royal Opera orchestra may be a bit bright and ensemble a bit ragged here and there, but they play with energy and drive. The recording venue is very live, so there is plenty of reverberation to hide the rough patches, and Ermler's interpretation is clearly sympathetic, if obviously a beaten path that comes from orchestras and conductors sharing dozens of performances over the years. If I had to guess, I would say the venue was overly live, which is why there are frequent passages where the orchestra isn't a unified ensemble.

A nice bonus on this 2-disc set is Anton Arensky's "Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky," a beautiful piece for strings that was a thoughtful addition to the second disc, which otherwise might have been a little short.

Undoubtedly, the better recordings are the Royal Philharmonic under Vladimir Ashkenazy on the Decca label and the London Symphony Orchestra's dazzling reading under Andre Previn on Classics for Pleasure. Nonetheless, this is a fine peformance and very much worhwhile if you find it at a bargain price.

I bought this music CD to accompany an illustrated book version of the "Nutcracker" story. This was all in preparation for taking my three year old twins to their first ballet. We played the music in the car nearly every day on the way to or from preschool. With each new musical piece we would talk about what was happening in the story, and listen for the instruments. Reading the book and playing this CD really paid off because the girls really loved the ballet, understood the story and recognized the music. Just what I was looking for!