“Whenever I hear it, it always makes me feel better,” said the prince from Jean-Marie Leclair’s Scylla et Glaucus, an 18th-century opera about malignant rage and the summoning of demons to destroy a rival. “It is so incredibly rhythmic, it is incredibly joyful and exciting … do you know those bits of music that put a spring in your step again when you’re feeling a little bit down.”

The rarely performed opera, as well as the songs of Leonard Cohen and Russian Orthodox liturgical music, have been revealed as the private musical choices of Prince Charles on a special edition of Radio 3’s long-running show Private Passions.

Marking Charles’s 70th year, the hour-long special features the prince talking about his musical passions and the importance of arts and music education.

When asked how he felt about the decline of music education – which the presenter, Michael Berkeley, said was at significant risk of disappearing in state schools – the prince said: “I’m one of those people who believes in the importance of arts education and music education in schools.

“Apart from anything else, I think people forget – or may not realise – what an enormous contribution the creative arts make to the whole economy. It’s immense.

“So we slightly shoot ourselves in the feet if we ignore it altogether. When you go to schools which still have it [music education], it is wonderful to see the enthusiasm on the part of the children in their orchestras.”

The Prince of Wales recalled how much he enjoyed his music lessons at his school, Gordonstoun. “In those days, the early 60s, we had these marvellous music teachers who had escaped the Holocaust in Germany and came to Gordonstoun and taught music there,” he said.

The prince chose a scene from the only known opera written by Leclair, based on a Greek myth about the ill-fated love between a nymph and a sea god. The chosen demonic dancing scene involves Circe, a sorceress, summoning demons to destroy her rival.

The prince also chooses Cohen’s Take This Waltz, a loose adaptation of a poem by Federico García Lorca.

“I’ve always loved Leonard Cohen’s voice and his whole approach to the way he sang,” he said. “He was obviously incredibly sophisticated in the way he sang, but also wrote. I find it very moving, the words are so extraordinary, sort of Salvador Dalí-like, they lead you into this remarkable Dalí-like world.”

The prince told Lord Berkeley, a composer, that his love of music was encouraged by his grandmother the Queen Mother, and has vivid memories of being taken by her to see the Bolshoi ballet at the Royal Opera House when he was seven. “I remember being so completely transfixed by the magic of it. I’ve loved Covent Garden ever since,” he said.

Other choices included the Creed from the Russian Orthodox liturgy, which was sung at his wedding to Camilla; the final movement of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony; Jacqueline du Pré performing Haydn’s cello concerto No 1 in C major; and Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

The programme is available on BBC Sounds on Wednesday and will be broadcast on Radio 3 on 30 December.