The "Butterfly Lovers" Violin Concerto 65th Anniversary concert

"Butterfly Lovers" is a violin concerto composed by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, based on the Yue opera Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. The final version was completed on May 4, 1959, and it premiered on May 27, 1959, at the Lanxin Grand Theatre in Shanghai. The violin solo was performed by Yu Lina, with Fan Chengwu conducting the orchestra.

The piece is centered around the main events of "The Grass Bridge Brotherhood," "Zhu Yingtai Resists Marriage," and "The Butterflies at the Tomb." The structure of the music consists of sections that depict the sound of birds and flowers, the oath at the grass bridge, three years of study together, the emotional farewell at the train station, Zhu Yingtai resisting marriage, the grieving cry at the tomb, and the transformation into butterflies at the grave.

In commemoration of this masterpiece, the Boston Musicians Association held a concert themed around Butterfly Lovers, which was a great success.