Behind the sugar plums

It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a certain Tchaikovsky chestnut.

It is, of course, the classic tale of little Clara’s Christmas gift, the Nutcracker that comes to life to defeat the evil Mouse King and whisk Clara off on a magical journey to the land of sweets.

Set to a lilting score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker ballet starts with a Christmas party and ends in fantasy of dances. What sweeter introduction to classical music and dance could young listeners have?

But behind the sugarplums is a deeper backstory of which few audience members are aware.

Grand Piano Series Director of Education and Community Engagement, composer/pianist Konstantin Soukhovetski will reveal it to them, with a flourish, in this second Narrative Musicale of the season.

Like the mysterious Uncle Drosselmeyer himself, whose magical powers animate objects like Clara’s nutcracker, Soukhovetski has a unique talent for bringing classical music to life for audiences of all ages, even those new to concertgoing.

Deeply committed to music education for all, he’s spun the stories behind the scores in countless masterclasses, interactive lecture/performances and residency programs at worldwide institutions from the Juilliard School to Singapore’s Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. He’s performed internationally, from Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln and Kennedy centers to London’s Wigmore Hall and Paris’s Louvre.

Each of his Narrative Musicales is an hour-long, intermission-less, immersive multimedia performance featuring audio, big-screen video, custom-crafted AI imagery and a one-of-a-kind emcee who brings depth and wit to familiar stories.

Even those who’ve attended his previous Narrative Musicales never know quite what to expect.

Not only does he interpret his chosen program using words, visuals and keyboard. Piano transcriptions are also part of his stock in trade. Short of staging The Nutcracker in a space as intimate as Ubben’s, he’ll re-create it with a stunning piano arrangement, synchronized with vintage ballet footage that few will have seen before.

Soukhovetski’s Narrative Musicales have been, he says, “so embraced by the community that, even in the slow season of summer, we had to add chairs.”

The last Musicale of the season, “America the Bassooniful” on May 13, promises to be another delightful surprise. Guest artist Eleni Katz — one of a handful of female solo, orchestral and chamber bassoonists — will put her versatile instrument through unexpected paces, from Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue to Bernstein’s West Side Story medley.

Also a classically trained singer, Katz is as multifaceted as the Narrative Musicales themselves. She has always believed that the bassoon should emulate the human voice, and her playing has been described as “uncannily human” (The Royal Gazette). In 2021, with composer Lila Meretzky, she commissioned and premiered the multidisciplinary “Sea Glass Partita for Singing Bassoonist.” Drawing its lyrics from a poem by Katz, the piece intersperses bassoon performance with singing and visual projections.

“Our goal is building a whole new community of concertgoers who will be not only enlightened but also highly entertained by Grand Piano Series special programs like these,” said Soukhovetski.

Narrative Musicale: The Nutcracker Origins

3 p.m. Dec. 17, Ubben Signature Event Space, Artis—Naples, 5833 Pelican Bay Boulevard, Naples.

Purchase tickets ($50) at grandpianoseries.org or artisnaples.org.

Call Artis—Naples at 239-597-1900 for assistance.