Customer Reviews

CHEN / HE: Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto (The)

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3 star:		(2)
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I was born in Beijing, China and I grow up with this beautiful music. I do hope that everybody in the world could know that China also has such great composers and great music. I was in tears when I knew that my husband ordered me this CD as a birthday gift from Amazon.com since we couldn't find it from anywhere else in the States.

Butterfly Lovers was composed by Gang Chen and He Zhan Hao about 40 years ago in Shanghai based on Chinese traditional music and a beautiful but sad love story that happend in ancient China. Later it was adapted by many movies. It was also very sad that the Butterfly Lovers was banned by Chairman Mao during the Chinese Culture Relution.

Now I am very very happy that this beatiful music can be appreciated by people all over the world.

While this cd was painstakingly difficult to track down in stores, I finally got a hold of it by ordering it from the internet. I love every second of it! While it is performed by a western orchestra you can definitely tell the Chinese folk music influences especially in the "Butterfly Lovers". While the music itself is tuneful, beautiful, and romantic, the performance by Takako Nishizaki and Kenneth Jean conducting the Bratislavia Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra are idael. Don't hesitate on buying this awesome cd! This is a gem that comes once in a blue moon!

When the "Butterfly Lover Concerto" was first conceived, it was intended to distill the best of Western classical and traditional Chinese folk music into an impeccably paced, beautiful and passionate narrative drama. To bring out its full color and texture, Chinese folk musical instruments were brought into the orchestra. The solo violin is detrimental to the narrative. The concerto divides into "Gong Du" (meaning "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai studying together"), "Xiang Song" ("saying goodbye"), "Kang Hun" ("Zhu resisting the marriage arranged by her parents"), "Lou Tai Xiang Hui" ("Liang and Zhu meeting again in Zhu's home"), and finaly "Hua Die" ("Lovers transforming into butterflies"). Throughout the concerto the violinist is the voice of the lovers conveying their innocence, longing, passion and helplessness. In neither the Naxos or Marco Polo version could Ms. Nishizaki convey much emotion through her interpretation. Too many details, when emphasized and refined, would have significantly elevated the interpretation, were sadly neglected. Her playing, though technically excellent, sounded stiff and flat. The Bratislava Orchestra in the Marco Polo CD did not provide enough support for her. It sounded thin, perfunctory and all too timid. In contrast, the accompanying Shanghai orchestra in the Naxos CD did a much better job in maintaining the dialogue with the soloist, providing the desperately needed regional color to the interpretation. As for other pieces played by Nishisaki, I feel that she was competent, but far from extraordinary, in conveying the emotions, life and textures of the music.

To this date, Ms. Yue Ni Na, the first person ever to play the Butterfly concerto, remains its best interpreter. Technically superb, she has never let her virtuoso overshadow the most elements in the concerto: love, loss and devotion. Most amazingly she made it sound SO easy. Her attention to the details, breathtakingly exquisite and deeply gratifying, conveyed a broad range of emotions: I feel like I can hear the lovers murmur and say goodbye, the wills clashing and butterflies fluttering in the storm. It takes a lot of guts to display such vulnerability and intimacy in her interpretation.

In a recording from the late 50s (which I think is available on cassettes), traditional Chinese instruments helped achieve stunning dramatic effects. Here Ms. Yue also recorded the pieces which Ms. Nishizaki played in the Naxos and Marco Polo CDs. She brought much more vitality and intimacy to her music. You don't just hear the music, you see vivid images and hear laughters and shouts of joy.

I do not usually write such long reviews. But the "Butterfly Lover Concerto" is very close to my heart and I only want to give my opinion on the subject and hope the world would get to know the work by Ms. Yue Ni Na. Tapes of her music are usually available in Chinese bookstore and/or music stores. I sincerely hope whoever is interested in learning more about modern Chinese music also takes the time to discover Ms. Yue.

I own two copies of "butterfly lovers" (one is played by vanessa mae, a 20 some year old prodigy, who has her own contemporary rendition). Knowing very well the original chinese folk tone, I must say this piece does lose a little bit switching from the tradition er-hu (the original instrument), to the violin. However, the music piece also had its "gains" when played in the western manner , in an orchestra, using western instruments. I can't think of another example where a "transformed" folk piece still can produce so much energy, power, and beauty. This piece is a bit more than 20 minutes long. Also beware of the crescendos. I've never heard anybody who disliked this piece. I hope more people will discover this treasure. a masterpiece in many ways.

The first time I heard 'Butterfly Lovers' by Chen Gang I heard it when I was watching the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Chinese figure skater Lu Chen was doing her artistic (long) program to it. If I am able to recall, I remember the commentators saying that the story was about 2 Chinese lovers who are forbidded to see each other because the girl's father does not approve of her true love. I believe the boy evetually has become saddened by this and kills himself. At the end they both emerge as butterflies. This story is similar to the Romeo & Juliet story where star-crossed lovers are involved. I truly recommend this CD because it has touched me with the different feelings of sadness, happiness, and anger. I believe 'Butterfly Lovers' is for those listeners that really want to be touched and moved. I learned that you do not have to be Chinese to listen to it because people all over the world has feelings and this is a great piece to vent them out and increase your music collection as well. 'Butterfly Lovers' did it to me , and I'm sure it will do it to you to. This is the CD to buy!

Not only is this famous Chinese programmatic concerto itself sweet, but so is the performance of it, especially that of the violin soloist, Takako Nishizaki. She is the reputed solo interpreter of the "Butterfly Lovers" Violin Concerto, and her absolutely sweet playing shows it. Her weepingly enchanting performance carries the listener through every mood in the piece with precision, and the orchestra plays just as equally well. Kenneth Jean conducts this performance charmingly, controlling the dynamics and balance of color with clear ideas. The only slight shortcoming in his conducting is that the horn near the end of the development is not heard as well as it could be. Everything else in the piece is magnificent. Jean's interpretation with Nishizaki on this Marco Polo label is more graceful and slightly better, although noticeably different sounding, than the later Naxos release of the same concerto with Nishizaki and a different conductor (interestingly, the conductor of the first performance of this work). The other miniature pieces following the epic concerto are also marvelous. The "Pastoral" is one of the most moving violin pieces, Western or Eastern, with its calm and warming flow of melodies. Every work and performance on this CD is well worth the small price of the Marco Polo label.

I grew up with this story in Taiwan(from movies). I was stunned when I fisrt heard of this music at 17.

The music is very sad. With image of the movies, which were made about 25 years ago in Taiwan and about 5 years ago in Hong Kong, I cry each time I listen to the music. It's classical and yet composed with a provincial accent.

It's sad to say but the composers seem unknown compared to Romantic composers such as Dvorak, and Tchaikovsky.

There are several different versions available in Taiwan, I don't know about here in the states. Some are played with tradition Chinese instrument- 2 HU(don't know what the name is in english, it sounds like violin but the key is lower, it plays a very sad sound by nature).

Wish I could give this CD more than 5 stars.

One piece you shouldn't miss especially if you are interested in Chinese culture

I grew up with this story in Taiwan(from movies). I was stunned when I fisrt heard of this music at 17.

The music is very sad. With image of the movies, which were made about 25 years ago in Taiwan and about 5 years ago in Hong Kong, I cry each time I listen to the music. It's classical and yet composed with a provincial accent.

It's sad to say but the composers seem unknown compared to Romantic composers such as Dvorak, and Tchaikovsky.

There are several different versions available in Taiwan, I don't know about here in the states. Some are played with tradition Chinese instrument- 2 HU(don't know what the name is in english, it sounds like violin but the key is lower, it plays a very sad sound by nature).

Wish I could give this CD more than 5 stars.

The music on this cd is the most beautiful music you can ever find. The violin is so sad and sweet. I love this music. It is one of the best classical cds I own. The other tracks on the cd are great too. The orchestra and violinist are excellent.