Customer Reviews

The Butterfly Lovers Concerto for Violin; Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto

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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.

The market is currently flooded with many recordings of the Tchaikovsky concerto. Recent recordings, such as Joshua Bell's with Michael Tilson Thomas and the Berlin Philharmonic or Julia Fischer's with Yakov Kreizberg and the Russian National Orchestra, have received rave reviews from critics and fans alike. Perhaps under such circumstances, this account of the Tchaikovsky has not received its due attention. While Bell and MTT's recording breathe new life into the concerto with new and fresh ideas, Shaham's sticks to a straightforward, yet personal interpretation. Gil seems to be adding more and more beautiful layers to his already rich and multi-faceted tone. Gil Shaham plays with such a big sound that the listener is left in amazement that it is never harsh. For those looking for a straightforward and less idiosyncratic interpretation that has many fresh ideas, this recording of the Tchaikovsky will certainly impress.

Gil pairs this oft-recorded concerto with a less frequently recorded concerto--the Butterfly Lover's Concerto. Gil Shaham, in a 2002 interview with Gramophone Magazine, said " I think the writing is brilliant and violinistic." The sensuous and soaring melodies of this concerto are woven together quite inventively to reflect the plot of a quite well known Chinese mythical tale. The sound of the erhu--a Chinese stringed instrument--is imitated throughout the work. Upon learning this piece, Gil consulted several erhuists for advice and help to learn some of the distinctive characteristics of the erhu. In the same interview, Gil said, "A whole world opened up to me. It was amazing to discover this concerto, the beautiful ancient legend on which it is based, a tiny bit of Chinese musical culture and even aspects of violin playing I had not known before." In Asia, the work has enjoyed immense popularity which is now contagiously spreading to the west. However, this recording is a landmark. This is the first time this work has received a recording by a violinist of such extraordinary ability. After one of Shaham's Avery Hall performances, the New York Times review read as follows: "The Butterfly Lovers has as its only ambition a single songfulness, a character on which Mr. Shaham's gorgeous tone could feed endlessly."

This disc will be a very welcome addition to any music lover's library.

One of the most beautiful pieces of classical music that I have listened to ever. Gil Shaham is incredible as well as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Heard this Tchaikovsky piece played by this outstanding orchestra on Australian public radio. So I bought it and it's simply great background music to soothe those times when you need soothing.

There is just NOT a more beautiful piece of music and this CD truly is wonderful. I love it. I am a violinist myself and I really appreciate the east/west duality of this piece. You will not be disappointed.
barbara

Gil Shaham's recording of the Chinese Violin Concerto "The Butterfly Lovers" (based on a folk tale and Beijing opera) is, by far, the best played on record. Avoid the overexposed Takako Nishizaki in ANY of her weak-muscled, tonally thin renditions (but especially her latest!), and go for this winner instead! Shaham proves again - like he did in his new recording of the Elgar concerto - that his tone his one of the most alluring in contemporary violin playing, and - of course - the concerto poses no technical problems for him either.

The coupling, Tchaikovsky's old warhorse op.35, couldn't be more fitting: Not only is this work "the" Romantic violin concerto from which tons of others sprang - but it's also, stylistically and melodically, the role model for the Cheng Gang/He Zhanhao work. Shaham's older recording, under Giuseppe Sinopoli, might have a bit more pizazz, but this new version flows more naturally, and without any strain.

Great playing by the Singapore orchestra, too. Superb recorded sound. What's not to like?

Thank you, Mr. Shaham and Da Hong Seetoo. You've given us a fantastic recording (my favorite to date) of the Butterfly Lover's Concerto. It's such a relief after suffering through any number of other versions for erhu, or lesser violinists. My only beef's with the Tchaikovsky. It's just not quite up to the same caliber in terms of the orchestra or recording as the Butterfly Lover's piece. Not worth docking this album over, though.

The Butterfly Lovers is a piece which has been floating around the edges of the repertoire for many years, but I believe is the first time it's been taken on by a violinist of Gil Shaham's stature. Jointly composed in 1959 by Gang Chen and Zhanhao He, both in their twenties at the time, the concerto presents many Chinese folk or folk-like melodies with Western-style orchestration, a practice espoused by Mao's "Great Leap Forward" (but later disparaged by the "cultural revolution"). It's a lush beautiful piece, but often little else. There are some passages which resemble Aaron Copland in their orchestration and pentatonic melodies, but lack that composer's gift for motific development or rhythmic drive. The Butterfly Lovers has a program based on an ancient Chinese tale about a young woman who disguises herself as a man in order to receive an education. She falls in love with another student against her father's plans for an arranged marriage. Transfigurative love-death follows. The violin part, which represents the woman, has several chances to interact solo instruments, all well played by the principles of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. It's a pleasant but not challenging piece, well played and recorded. The other work is the granddaddy of romantic violin concertos, the Tchaikovsky. It receives a fine, if not significant, performance here. Nothing wrong with it, but there are many preferable performances.