NEW YORK — We all know it. The enchanting melody of “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker,” which returns to New York City Ballet on Friday for its annual run through Dec.

In the 1890s, when the Russian composer Tchaikovsky was preparing to write the music for the ballet that would become his holiday classic, “The Nutcracker,” he encountered a brand-new instrument: the ...

Delicate as a music box and bright as a winter star, the bell-like chimes of Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" signal pure Christmas magic, evoking images of graceful, twirling ballerinas ...