Valentine’s Day playlists seem to be all the rage, so I’m contributing a personal musical ménage that expresses burning passion and the wonderful, comfortable warmth that, with luck, grows as a good relationship progresses:
Passion I: OMG, he’s gone!
In Handel’s opera, Alcina discovers that her captive Ruggiero has escaped, and launches into “Ah! Mio cor!” Gorgeously sung by Magdalena Kozena (accompanied by the Venice Baroque Orchestra), with fascinating/odd video to go with it:
Passion II: OMG, she’s back!
Love as war, so masterfully expressed by Jacques Brel in his 1963 wonder, “Mathilde.” It makes my head spin. (This isn’t the best version, but it comes with English subtitles.)
True Love: Good morning, sweetheart!
Siegfried-Idyll, written by Richard Wagner to wake his wife, Cosima, on Christmas morning. Here, transcribed by Glenn Gould and recorded for the German edition of Kevin Bazzana’s biography, Wondrous Strange, by pianist Vestard Shymkus:
Happy Valentine’s Day, no matter where you find yourself on love’s capricious spectrum.
John Terauds