Premiered over fifty years ago, the violin concerto Butterfly Lovers was written to mark the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The legend of the Butterfly Lovers is often described as the 'Chinese Romeo and Juliet', with a similar story line of doomed love between the two young protagonists. The memorable main theme is based on the traditional Chinese Yueju opera featuring the same story, originally played by the Chinese instrument erhu and here transcribed to the violin.

Throughout the work, specific scenes from the story are depicted as musical tableaux, and the two co-composers drew much on the techniques and tunes of various traditional Chinese instruments in their writing, for both the soloist and the orchestra. This has undoubtedly contributed to the indisputable, perennial popularity of the work among Chinese audiences, both at home and abroad. In the decades since its premiere, the Butterfly Concerto has become one of the most frequently performed concert works in China, and a NAXOS recording in the 1980s became a Platinum Disc, furthering its popularity. This concert's soloist, Lu Siqing, is widely considered to be one of the most important interpreters of the concerto from his generation.

The second half of the concert brings us a somewhat different representation of nationalism, in the shape of Dvorak's Eighth Symphony. Powerfully Slavonic in character, this is perhaps the most nationalistic of all nine symphonies by Dvorak. Like his better known Ninth Symphony, every movement of Symphony No. 8 is shot through with elements of folk music, with memorable themes and orchestral writing that are both deeply expressive and, at times, highly personal, all culminating in a festive flourish of a coda.

Date: October 24, 2014

Venue: Concert Hall of the NCPA

Add: No. 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng District, Beijing

Source: NCPA