Butterfly Lovers

by Joshua Bell, Tsung Yeh, Singapore Chinese Orchestra

Overview

It is not clear what took Sony Classical five years to issue these performances, recorded by violinist Joshua Bell and the Singapore Chinese Orchestra in 2018. Having had it in the can, it would have made ideal pandemic-era listening. However, better is certainly late than never, and the recording is a real find. It made classical best-seller lists in the summer of 2023. Most musical fusions have one tradition or the other at the core, but in this one, the trips between Western and Chinese are so numerous that one loses track. The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto was written in 1959 in good Communist fashion by multiple composers. It was for violin and Western orchestra, based on a tragic Chinese legend about two lovers who turn into butterflies after they achieve burial together; its seven movements are vividly programmatic in nature. The work was intended to introduce Chinese music to the West in a listener-friendly way. Several other Western violinists have played the work, but the treatment here is new; the concerto is arranged for a large Chinese orchestra, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, conducted by Tsung Yeh. Then again, this orchestra itself has Western components; the string section is undergirded by cellos and basses, and the percussion section also contains Western instruments. Above this hybrid apparatus soars Bell, who seems energized by the whole project and does a masterful job of sounding just slightly Chinese; he does not overdo the erhu-like slides that are a staple of earlier, less-sophisticated Chinese-Western fusions but just alters his intonation a bit. There are three Western encores played by this same ensemble; all have their virtues, but Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20, a fusion of a different kind, is a standout. The live sound from Singapore's Esplanade Hall is excellent -- clean and unmarred by extraneous noise. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	06/30/2023
Label:	Sony Classical
UPC:	0196588109720

Tracks

1. Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto~Adagio cantabile
2. Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto~Allegro
3. Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto~Adagio assai doloroso
4. Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto~Pesante - Più mosso - Duramente
5. Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto~Lagrimoso
6. Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto~Presto resoluto
7. Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto~Adagio cantabile
8. Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso in A Minor, Op. 28
9. Méditation From Thaïs
10. Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Joshua Bell   Primary Artist,Violin
Tsung Yeh   Primary Artist,Conductor
Singapore Chinese Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra

Technical Credits

Joshua Bell   Liner Notes
He Zhanhao   Composer
David Foil   Liner Notes
Chen Gang   Composer
Ron Jaramillo   Creative Director
Zhan-Hao He   Composer
Pablo de Sarasate   Composer
Yew-tien Phoon   Arranger
Yan Huichang   Arranger
Law Wai-Lun   Arranger
Jeremy Kinney   Assistant Engineer
Alex Sopp   Cover Art
Zachary Crystal   A&R
Boss Michaels   General Manager
Cindy Liu   General Manager,Product Manager
Devi Reddy   General Manager,Product Manager
Justine Hong   Production Manager
Gabby Chi   Design
Ku Lap-Man   Arranger
Adam Abeshouse   Producer,Engineer
Camille Saint-Saens   Composer
Eric Watson   Arranger
Jules Massenet   Composer
Bob Lee   Photography
David Lai   General Manager,Executive Producer