This is a sobering antidote to the saccharine sentiments and plump roses that bloom on greeting cards around Valentine?s Day. The piece is set at the piano of Gary Goldschneider where he?s interviewed by reporter Dheera Sujan about the influence of love and passion on classical music. Though the piece gets off to a slow start (it takes more than 3 minutes before we hear music) it succeeds in drawing connections between some of the most romantic music ever written, and the love lives of Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Beethoven, Schumann and other great composers. Goldschneider has an intimate understanding of the tormented personal lives of these people, and points out passages in their music where their suffering finds expression. Unrequited love, homosexuality, love triangles?it?s all there. The production is straight forward (interview mixed with music), and the audio recording of the piano could have been richer. Yet after a few minutes I found myself immersed in melody and story, soaking in the emotions that flow through this music.