Enjoy a mesmerizing performance of "The Butterfly Lovers Concerto" for Erhu by the University of Texas University Orchestra (UTUO), conducted by KeYuan Hsin. Erhu solo by Yun Chen Tsai.

Erhu: 蔡昀宸 (YunChen Tsai)
Conductor: 辛克元 (KeYuan Hsin)

The erhu is a Chinese twostringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a Southern Fiddle, and is sometimes known in the Western world as the Chinese violin or a Chinese twostringed fiddle.

0:00 Entrance
0:27 I. Adagio Cantabile (抒情的中慢板)
On the road to Hangzhou for her studies, Zhu (disguised as a man) meets Liang for the first time. The first buds of love begin to blossom.

5:47 II. Allegro Con Brio (活潑的小快板)
Zhu and Liang’s busy three years of school.

8:32 III. Adagio assai doloroso (惋惜地慢板
As the end of their schooling draws near, Liang and Zhu grow sad as they realize that their time together is nearly over. Zhu invites Liang to visit her family and to court her sister. He doesn’t know that Zhu is really inviting him to marry her. Liang promises to see Zhu again, but Liang waits before doing so.

11:43 IV. Pesante – Piu mosso – Duramente (陰沈地 — 不安地 — 兇暴地
When Zhu returns home, she finds that her father has promised her to the son of a rich family. The solo violin struggles against the forces of the orchestra, representing her protests against her father.

15:39 V. Lagrimoso (哀傷地、傾訴地)
When Liang arrives, he sees Zhu and realizes that she is a woman, and they fall in love. The solo violin and cello solo play an emotional duet, one of the most famous and powerful sections of the work.

18:19 VI. Presto Resoluto (急板—堅決地)
The love duet between the two is replaced by anger as Liang learns that in his absence, Zhu has been betrothed to another. Liang becomes sick and dies as the duet draws to a close. Another virtuosic section for the solo and orchestra combines both the slow melodies and the fast energetic passages introduced before. The section ends with the suicide of Zhu as the solo violin ends with an abrupt high note.

23:51 VII. Adagio cantabile (抒情的慢中板)
The lovers’ parts are united by a final section, with the solo violin and the orchestra redeveloping the opening theme to build to a triumphant climax. The concerto ends bittersweetly with a final melodic phrase from the solo violin, concluding mysteriously on a high D from the strings. In the legend, Liang’s grave opens and Zhu throws herself into the chasm; the ending portraying the lovers’ transformation into butterflies, never to be separated again.

Source of the whole text from Wikipedia
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