This opera encompasses a forced marriage, a pact with the devil, divine punishment, and forgiveness. The recording, initiated in 2008, has now taken its definitive form in this Simax release. Although Borgstrøm wrote Fiskeren in 1900, it wasn't premiered until March 2003, with the newly established Kristiansand Symfoniorkester.

Hjalmar Borgstrøm, well-known and played from 1900 until his death in 1925, has gradually faded from the concert repertoire and been forgotten. He belonged to the generation after Grieg and was contemporary with Edvard Munch and Knut Hamsun, as well as composers like Halvorsen, Mahler, Debussy, and Sibelius. In addition to several orchestral works and a considerable amount of chamber music, Borgstrøm composed two operas, Thora paa Rimol (1894) and Fiskeren (1900).

Between 1870 and 1920, during the "golden age" of Norwegian music history, approximately 30 operas and musicals were completed by Norwegian composers. Many of these, including Thora and Fiskeren, have remained unperformed for a long time. In Borgstrøm's case, it took over 100 years for his operas to have their premieres. In recent decades, more of these works have been brought out of obscurity, and many of them prove to be well worth rediscovering.