?Tchaikovskyﾒs ballet The Nutcracker, which has its origins in a novella by E. T. A. Hoffmann, contains some of the best-loved music ever written. But its composer wasnﾒt very happy with it, perhaps because the plot he was given to work with allowed him to present only a series of dances, losing the moral basis of Hoffmanﾒs surprisingly modern tale, with its messages of inclusivity and what is now called ﾑwomenﾒs agencyﾒ ﾖ here it is the little girl who saves the prince. Hoffmannﾒs aspirational story continues well after the ballet ends, with the little girl, now grown up, marrying the prince, who is now king. John Mauceri has brought the ballet back to its inspiration, calling on music from elsewhere in Tchaikovskyﾒs orchestral output to fashion this ﾑre-tellingﾒ, marrying Hoffmannﾒs text and Tchaikovskyﾒs music for the first time.