AVROTROS Valentine's Concert: Love in three stories

Love and music, it is an unbreakable duo. Not only as a soundtrack to many a crush, but also as fiery notes to a beautiful love story. Therefore, this Valentine's Day, three romantic works celebrating love in all its facets take center stage. A real gift tip for your chosen Valentine.

Of course, things are not always rosy in this loving music. For example, things went badly for Romeo and Juliet, the protagonists in Tchaikovsky's Fantasy Overture. And in Rachmaninov's Spring Cantata, only the arrival of spring can turn a man away from the thought of murdering his adulterous wife. Even in Cesar Franck's symphonic poem Psyché, there is a long wait for the happy ending.

Cesar Franck wrote his four-movement symphonic poem Psyché under the influence of Franz Liszt's work. The symphonic work is based on Psyché and Eros, a frame story from Apuleius' novel The Golden Ass. A beautiful story of jealousy and love that only has a happy ending when Zeus himself interferes. Which Franck ultimately paints in wonderfully romantic tones.