Gil Shaham's love affair with the 'Butterfly Lovers' Concerto extends back over ten years, and it is only now that the opportunity has arisen to document this rewarding work to disc. Gil is an enthusiastic exponent of this concerto, having performed it in concert in the United States, Europe and Asia.

It is a work with which Gil has a very strong musical affinity and in an interview with Gramophone Magazine in 2002 said "I think the writing is brilliant and violinistic". The work imitates the sound of the Chinese erhu (two-string fiddle), especialy inflexions and slliding pitches. "I listened to a lot of erhu, and spoke with erhu players. The erhu has no fingerboard, so the slide feels very different. Also, onthe erhu, you can't take thebow off, which is so different from the violin." Gil further refined his technique and shaped his interpretation with lessons from Prof Jin in Hong Kong, who lectures in erhu performance.

The 'Butterfly Lovers' Concerto was one of two 'Western symphonic works' condoned during the Cultural Revolution, with the two composers Chen and He serving substantial prison terms during Mao's cultural Revolution. Its folk-like melodic content, romantic style and pathos - think Rachmaninov with a Chinese heart - have assisted this piece in becoming accepted - and indeeed loved - in the West over the last fifteen years. As one of the world's leading virtuosos, Gil Shaham is the first to have added the work to his performing and recording repertoire. He says that he enjoys the advantage of having no 'cultural baggage' and feels able to interpret this work for the sheer joy that the music offers.

"The Butterfly Lovers has as its only ambition a single songfulness, a character on which Mr Shaham's georgeous tone could feed endlessly" - The New York Times, Avery Fisher Hall concert review