In this final instalment of their trilogy of Tchaikovsky ballet recordings, it comes as no surprise that the players in the Bergen Philharmonic are at one with their conductor. They play this score with a panache and imagination that holds the listener enthralled by the tale that begins one Christmas Eve as Clara Silberhaus journeys from snow-covered forest to the enchanted kingdom of Confiturembourg.

Neeme Järvi and his Bergen Philharmonic scamper through the Overture and opening scene so quickly that I wondered if they’d set up a new speed record for the entire ballet. They come in at 84 minutes, second only to Gergiev with the Kirov Orchestra at 81 (Philips, 1/99). It is unlikely such tempi would be heard in the theatre but this latest recording never sounds rushed; indeed, Järvi’s tempi for the dances from the familiar Nutcracker Suite would be in tune with the expectations of most balletomanes.

Character and mood are vividly conveyed. Clara’s godfather’s comic tune, on violas with a sinister twist, catches his cranky gait, and the nocturnal scene by moonlight is unnerving. Could Tchaikovsky’s ghostly vision with harp, piccolos, flute and tremolo strings have influenced Britten when he composed his glittering variation for the harp in The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra? It’s rather a shame that the clock chimes in this scene sound incontrovertibly suburban! Järvi presses onward when the four horns return with the reprise in the Waltz of the Flowers and delivers a coup de théâtre in the final courtly waltz, making a brief but substantial rit 2'30" in. The climax to the Pas de deux is eloquently put across, with the conductor maintaining the momentum until the end. Exemplary sound and documentation.