I often listen these days to the Classical Morning program
that airs on Swedish
Radio from Monday through Friday, but that's also available through the
Internet. Their selection is always interesting and frequently includes women
composers. The director and beguiling voice of the program is Erika Libeck
Lindahl.
On Christmas Eve they featured Peter Tchaikovsky’s incidental
music to Snöflickan or The Snow Maiden, a play by Alexander Ostrovsky,
which premiered in 1873 at the Bolshoi Theater.
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There are variations of the snow girl, Snegurka, in Russian
fairy tales. I remember one story from Andrew Lang’s fairytale series.
Childless parents make a girl from snow, who comes to life and brings them joy.
Eventually, of course, she melts when the weather warms. Another version, the one
used by Ostrovsky and Tchaikovsky, has echoes of The Little Mermaid. The Snow Maiden is unable to fully love, even though
she likes a shepherd. As soon as her mother allows her this gift, love
makes her heart warm. And she melts.
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