It's Christmas, it's ballet, so it must be The Nutcracker, that seasonal staple as predictable as Noddy Holder and over-cooked sprouts. Tchaikovsky's hum-along tunes may swell the box office, but most productions are pretty awful, with rubbish sets and mangled meaning.

Not so Peter Wright's staging for the Royal Ballet, which is so gentle and true, so elegant and serious, that it brings a lump to the throat. Yes, it really is possible for wizened old critics to blub over the Sugar Plum Fairy, and even the Stahlbaum family, whose beautiful manners normally have me reaching for the shotgun.

Alastair Marriott gave the opening performance of this year's run considerable depth with his portrayal of Herr Drosselmeyer, the magician-toymaker and uncle of Hans-Peter who is trapped inside an ugly nutcracker doll. Marriott's Drosselmeyer is no avuncular trick-meister, but a troubled man whose sorrows are channelled into creating good things for young Clara.

This exactly catches the falling melody of Tchaikovsky's ostensibly bright tunes. It also gives the ballet meaning for the grown-ups, who know the poignancy of Christmas and the emotional price of love.

Other fine performances included Zachary Faruque as Hans-Peter/The Nutcracker (smooth, easy jumps) and Alexandra Ansanelli as the Sugar Plum Fairy. She was all grace and refinement, and the perfect model of life's sweet things. Her Prince was a slightly too vigorous Valeri Hristov (great leaps, but not enough restraint for a toff), and Steven McRae knocked spots off in the Russian dance. Gemma Bond as Clara danced well, but her phrasing needs softness.

• In rep until 19 January (020 7304 4000, www.roh.org.uk).