The thirty-second classical recording: #486 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker
It can be hard to judge a ballet on its music alone. There are, of course, some very famous sequences in here, but the link to the visuals is lost. And with a piece as varied at this, the specific dances partway through the second act get lost. It still feels thematically consistent, though, even in places where it varies. It carries you through and creates its own arc, from big and warm to smaller and lighter, sometimes creepier, until its happier waltz at the end. It's a good piece, and I feel I really should seek it out for a live performance rather than just the music I could cover now.