(Photo: Frank Albrecht)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welcome. For a while I have been hoping to publish an issue on one of the most famous warhorses in the theatre repertoire: Tchaikovsky\u2019s The Nutcracker<\/em>. It was the composer\u2019s final ballet (premiered in 1891) and before Christmas I was lucky to be given the chance to speak to two former Constance Lambert Fellows about their work on the Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet Nutcracker <\/em>productions. They were both choreographed by Sir Peter Wright, but performed in different venues with slight variations. It has been a number of years since I had the opportunity to discuss the same piece with two different conductors, so to be able to do that with such a perennial favourite was an opportunity I relished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first interviewee featured is the German conductor Thomas Jung<\/a>. He studied at the Hochschule f\u00fcr Musik, Cologne and King\u2019s College, Cambridge. Thomas was appointed as the inaugural Constant Lambert Conducting Fellow at the Royal Opera House back in 2018 and is now conducting for The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet. He has worked with (among others) the conductors Bernard Haitink and Benjamin Zander. \u00a0<\/sup>The second interviewee is the French-Italian conductor Charlotte Politi<\/a>. She studied in Italy, Germany (at the Hochschule f\u00fcr Musik Karlsruhe) and in the United States (at the University of Michigan). Charlotte is currently the London Philharmonic Orchestra Fellow Conductor and Constant Lambert Associate with the Royal Ballet \u2013 she moved to the UK in 2021 to start the fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n