The Butterfly Lovers Concerto for Violin; Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
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Composer: Zhan-hao / Chen, Gang HeComposer: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Conductor: Lan Chui
Orchestra: Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2007-10-30
Music Label: Canary Classics
Soundtracks:
- Adagio Cantabile
- Allegro
- Adagio Assai Doloroso
- Pesante - Piu Mosso - Duramente
- Lagrimoso
- Presto Resoluto
- Adagio Cantabile
- Allegro Moderato
- Canzonetta: Andante
- Finale: Allegro Vivacissimo
Music reviews of The Butterfly Lovers Concerto for Violin; Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Music Review: "East meets West"
Rating: 4 Stars
This unique violin concerto is fascinating on a number of levels, not least for its dramatic back-story. It was co-written by Shanghai Conservatory of Music students Gang Chen and Zhanhao He in 1958, premiered to great acclaim the following year, then declared "decadent" five years later during the repressive era of China's Cultural Revolution, with both composers both sent packing off to prison. When the country's cultural commissars adopted a less-restrictive atmosphere in the late 1970s, the work reappeared and quickly became the one of China's most popular works, both at home and abroad.
Listening to the music today, one can be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss was about. There's nothing overtly radical or avant-garde about this music. But back in the late 1950s, anything Western was looked upon with suspicion in communist countries such as China. Chen and He's "crime" was to attempt a fusion of Western instrumentation and tonalities with traditional Chinese melodies. The latter, which often sound harsh and discordant to Western listeners, are rendered here in utterly accessible fashion. This is my favorite version of this famous concerto, thanks largely to the sublime artistry of Gil Shaham, who evokes the sound of various Chinese stringed instruments on his violin while conveying the music's lush tonalities and sweeping lyricism.
The concerto, based on an ancient Chinese legend about ill-starred lovers, is comprised of seven movements that flow together like a mountain stream. Shaham's violin is the dominant instrumental voice throughout. He conjures a tone that is sweet and emotionally charged, but never cloying. The movements alternate between languid explorations of the main love theme, with lots of shimmering solo passages for violin and cello; and uptempo orchestral sections fairly bursting with buoyant exuberance. The melodies are gorgeous and engaging, the harmonics full of color and movement.
Chen and He don't explore a particularly wide range of emotions, and the overall mood of the concerto is basically optimistic. They tend to paint with broad emotional colors (often evoking the spirit of Tchaikovsky) and are more interested in creating a moving musical experience rather than showing off their compositional chops. But when the music is this beautiful and is played with such precision and verve by an artist like Shaham, that's no bad thing.
The other piece on this disc is Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, which, like The Butterfly Lovers, met with early rejection before eventually achieving widespread acclaim. While also grounded in the Romantic tradition, Tchaikovsky's concerto is a much more technically demanding beast, and Shaham again delivers a bravura performance. He effortlessly conveys the passionate thrust of the uptempo first and third movements, as well as the sensuous, bittersweet drama of the slower second movement. The orchestra plays a supportive but nonetheless expressive role, with the strings and woodwinds laying down a moody atmospheric foundation over which Shaham's violin soars with insolent grandeur. All in all, a triumphant reading of one of Tchaikovsky's signature compositions, and a brilliant complement to the Chen-He concerto.
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