The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto was written by two Chinese composers, Chen Gang and He Zhanhao, in 1959. In honor of Chinese New Year – which begins 1/31 – Houston Public Media's Catherine Lu has come back to the Classroom to teach us all about this gorgeous piece, which was based on possibly the most tragic opera ever.

Audio production by Todd “??” Hulslander with ??????? by Dacia Clay.

Music in this episode:

– Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao – violin by Gil Shaham

– “Leading a Camel” from the The Flowing River Water, by Yang Yi He (erhu example)

…and don’t miss Catherine Lu’s 2-hour Chinese New Year classical music celebration on Classical 91.7 (and on classical917.org) at noon and again at 10pm, Friday (1/31)!