Jean Sibelius - Snöfrid, Op.29 (1900)

Leif Segerstam - Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro de RTVE - Amaya Prieto, narrator - Teatro Monumental, Madrid, 1 November 2013

Wikipedia:
Snöfrid, Op. 29, is a melodrama or "improvisation for narrator, mixed choir and orchestra" by Jean Sibelius. He completed it in 1900 on a text by Viktor Rydberg. It was first performed in Helsinki on 20 October 1900, with the Orchestra of the Helsinki Philharmonic Society, conducted by Robert Kajanus.

Sibelius composed the work in the fall of 1900 on a poem by Viktor Rydberg. He later noted: "I wrote Snöfrid more or less at one sitting after I came home from three days of lively celebrations". The plot on which it is based is inspired by old Scandinavian balladic stories. A female protagonist appeals to her compatriots, in particular a hero, to fight for freedom as a higher goal than fortune, fame and pleasure. Sibelius was inspired by several works by Rydberg, including solo songs and Skogsrået (The Wood Nymph). He liked Rydberg's free verse, expressing both erotic and political ideas. The heroic element possibly appealed to his own battles "with everybody and everything". Sibelius chose dramatic scenes from the poem, such as Snöfrid's "If you choose me, then you choose the tempest." The instrumental prelude depicts a storm at night, with whining strings, howling brass, thundering percussion, but "dominated by melodic and harmonic elements".