Butterfly Lovers & Paganini (vinyl edition)

Rising star violinist Chloe Chua presents a vinyl edition of her acclaimed recording

combining Chen Gang and He Zhanhao's Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto with Niccolo

Paganini's First Violin Concerto, performed together with the Singapore Symphony

Orchestra, Rodolfo Barraez and Mario Venzago. The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto

was written in 1959, and inspired by a tale often called the Romeo & Juliet of ancient

China. Chen and He deftly combine a Western classical idiom with elements from

Chinese opera, such as grace notes and portamento effects, and the work has

become one of the most famous and acclaimed pieces of Chinese classical music. This

album also features an interpretation of Chen Gang's Sunshine over Tashkurgan,

which adds Central-Asian maqam to the stylistic palette. The programme concludes

with Paganini's First Violin Concerto, musically inspired by Rossinian bel canto. The

three works share a richness of melodic invention and orchestral colours, as well as

breathtaking virtuosic demands for the soloist. The solo parts are in excellent hands

with Chloe Chua, who admires the steadfast love and perseverance of the Butterfly

Lovers and feels fully at home in these evocative and exhilarating masterpieces.

Chloe Chua and the Singapore Symphony return to Pentatone after their acclaimed

recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Locatelli's Labirinto armonico (2023).