Heavenly tunes of The Nutcracker

I first watched Birmingham Royal Ballet's production of The Nutcracker at Birmingham Hippodrome in 1999, just before the theatre closed its doors for a £35 million redevelopment. I had just moved to Birmingham from Malaysia to study at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and had never experienced a full-length ballet before (there is no professional ballet company back home). Little did I know I would be working for BRB and get to play with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia in The Nutcracker all these years later!

I play the celeste (meaning 'heavenly' in French) in the orchestra. It's an idiophone with a keyboard, and while it belongs to the family of percussion instruments, it is usually played by a pianist. Invented by Charles-Victor Mustel in Paris, 1886, its unique sound is generated via the mechanism of felt hammers striking steel sound plates. This occurs above a wooden resonator, a patent that is still honoured by the German maker Schiedmayer Celesta GmBH – the only company in the world that manufactures the celeste. 

Tchaikovsky visited Mustel in Paris on his way to the opening of the Carnegie Hall in New York, 1891, where he experienced the celeste for the first time. He fell in love with the 'heavenly' sound immediately. Thanks to his ingenious use of the instrument in the 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' in The Nutcracker, the celeste had its international breakthrough when the ballet premiered in St Petersburg in 1892. Since then, it has been featured widely, not only in classical repertoire, but also in pop, rock, jazz and film music, notably in Harry Potter!

I'm thoroughly looking forward to the return of Sir Peter Wright's lavish production this Christmas. It is guaranteed to be a fitting festive feast for the eyes and ears. Our celeste has even been given a full service in time for this run of The Nutcracker – listen out for the extra sparkle when it plays!