50th Anniversary Concert of the Concerto "Butterfly Lovers"

This concert celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the release of the Chinese violin concerto "Butterfly Lovers", based on a 1000-years-old folklore, which is about a boy called "Liang Shanbao" and a girl "Zhu Yingtai" who pretended to be a boy and studied together. When Liang Shanbao found out that Zhu Yingtai is actually a girl, he fell in love with her. However after they finished their schooling, the girl's parent opposed this relationship and forcibly arranged the girl to marry another man. Both the boy and the girl opposed to this arranged marriage. The boy was heart-broken and died. Then the girl lamented in front of the boy's grave at the dialogue between the solo violin and the solo cello. At the end of the development, the girl jumped into the grave. Then at the recapitulation, the pair emerged from the grave as two butterflies.

This concert will premiere the "Butterfly Lovers" in Dunedin, and will also feature the Symphony No. 104 in D Major "London" by Haydn.