Leevi Madetoja

Finland may be the happiest country on earth, but it is also known as the land of a thousand sad songs. Lurking in the shadows of this Nordic welfare state are violence, alcoholism and inequality. A century after its premiere, the most Finnish of all operas is now being performed in a new production at the Helsinki Opera House.

Anni, the daughter of the Heikkilä family, is forced by her father to give up her plans to marry her beloved farmhand, Matti Väliportti. Anni's life becomes a struggle when her father's choice of husband for her, Toivo Erkkilä, turns out to be a violent alcoholic.