Scandinavian Christmas

Wintry dreams of sounds from the North

Christmas in Scandinavia? One immediately thinks of the Lucia festival, of glögg and gingerbread biscuits, and of landscapes covered in deep snow as far as the eye can see. But did you also know that in Finland, on the 24th, people traditionally go to a Christmas sauna? Or that, in Sweden and Norway, Christmas presents are not delivered by Santa Claus, but by elves? Sophie Heinrich knows a great deal about the Christmas customs of the North. But these stories sound even better with a suitable accompaniment: the imaginative, life-affirming, and dreamlike music of Sibelius, Grieg, Svendsen and Pärt.