Gang-Zhanhao: The Butterfly Lovers / Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto Gil Shaham

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CD

  • Release Date: 10/30/2007
  • Sales Rank: 10,612
  • Label: CANARY CLASSICS
  • UPC: 892118001044

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  • Overview
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  • Editorial Reviews
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Track List
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Gang-Zhanhao: The Butterfly Lovers / Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto

1LISTENViolin Concerto ("Butterf
2LISTENViolin Concerto ("Butterf
3LISTENViolin Concerto ("Butterf
4LISTENViolin Concerto ("Butterf
5LISTENViolin Concerto ("Butterf
6LISTENViolin Concerto ("Butterf
7LISTENViolin Concerto ("Butterf
8LISTENViolin Concerto in D majo
9LISTENViolin Concerto in D majo
10LISTENViolin Concerto in D majo

About this Artist

Editorial Reviews

The big news here is the presence of "The Butterfly Lovers," a work known to Western audiences in fragments from Olympic figure skating performances and the like, but not so often heard in full from a violinist of the caliber of Gil Shaham. It is sometimes paired with the notorious "Yellow River Concerto" in concert, but it is slighter, less extreme in conception, and thus more attractive than that work. Like the "Yellow River Concerto" it is a joint production, but by only a pair of composers, Chen Gang and He Zhanhao, not an entire committee, and its program is based on an episode from classical Chinese literature, not on a Communist plot. It was written in 1959. The seven short movements embody the story of a girl, Zhu Lingtai, who passes as male so that she can study literature. A boy in her class finds out what she is up to, and the two fall in love. Their love is doomed, however, because a marriage for Zhu to a wealthy merchant has already been arranged. The boy dies of grief, and Zhu throws herself into his casket as the funeral procession passes. In the end, they emerge as butterflies.

The musical structure on which this tale hangs is an intriguing one, a mixture of Western elements (such as the tuning and the orchestral writing in general), Chinese pentatonic melodies and ornamentation techniques, and a straightforward quality mandated by socialist aesthetics. The booklet is detailed and makes for fascinating reading for anyone studying the Cultural Revolution and its grim precursors: the composers initially omitted the final movement that depicted the emergence of the butterflies, but, in Chen's words, "The Western concerto form needs a final transcendence, and without the butterflies there is no concerto." Shaham plays the work to the hilt, drawing out the music's sentimental qualities but remaining alert to the ways in which the language cuts sentiment short, and the work is compact and entertaining. It is paired with a Tchaikovsky violin concerto that is elegantly and confidently played, although "gutsy" would not be a word used to describe it. The Singapore Symphony under Lan Shui adds to what is becoming an impressive catalog; it is a well-drilled ensemble that can easily stand comparison with the West's great urban orchestras. A fine performance of a work that's just unusual enough to catch on once again. James Manheim, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

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Gang-Zhanhao: The Butterfly Lovers / Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertoby Anonymous

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November 08, 2007: 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.

Gang-Zhanhao: The Butterfly Lovers / Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertoby Anonymous

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November 04, 2007: The Butterfly Lovers is a piece which has been floating around the edges of the repertoire for many years 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” (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 (represented by the violin)who disguises herself as a man in order to receive an education, and then falls in love with another student against her father’s plans for an arranged marriage. The violin part has several chances to interact solo instruments (representing her father, her lover and others), 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.