“Butterfly Lovers” and “Madame Butterfly”

It’s hardly a coincidence that two treasured pieces of music— one telling a story rooted in Japan, the other with Chinese composers, sharing a Chinese legend– weren’t discovered for skating until Asian and Asian-American skaters rose to prominence. Nor is it a coincidence that both these treasured pieces of music mention a certain winged insect in their titles.

So why does skating music have a tale of two butterflies in Madame Butterfly and Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto? It helps to know the story within each piece of music of course, but it makes even more sense when recognizing the significance of butterflies in Asian culture.

Many cultures look to it as a symbol of the soul; in Japan, a white butterfly is said to represent the soul of the departed. What significance does that bear with the title character in the opera Madame Butterfly?

Since the opera, as well as the stories upon which it is based, was written almost as far from Japan as you can get (composer Puccini was Italian), it’s likely more symbolic than cultural in its origin…

But then again, consider the fate of “Butterfly” herself within this synopsis:

Young Japanese girl “Butterfly” (Cio-Cio-san) marries American man– she for love, he for convenience. Shortly after marrying, the man goes away while she bears his son and waits in vain for his return. When he does come back, it’s with a new American wife and a wish for them to raise his and Butterfly’s son. Which she allows, but after saying goodbye to her young child she commits suicide.

Madame Butterfly was first performed in 1904.

Regarding China’s cultural take on butterflies… I found the following:

In China, butterfly has been a popular symbol for centuries. The butterfly is called ‘hu tieh’ in Mandarin language. The word ‘tieh’ translates as seventy years, and because of this the animals are taken as a symbol of long life. Butterfly to the Chinese also represents love, specifically young love. It symbolizes an undying bond between lovers.

In reading its synopsis you’ll probably see a strong resemblance to a certain other famous story often told on the ice, for Butterfly Lovers is sometimes known as the Chinese Romeo and Juliet:

Two lives become intertwined in their younger years… once they are done w/school, her father promises her to another. Once the two are reunited & in love, he becomes angry w/her father’s betrothal, then falls ill and dies. She commits suicide shortly thereafter… but they are joined together in the final section, transformed into butterflies that will never be separated again.

Butterfly Lovers was composed in 1959 and is one of the most famous Chinese works of orchestral music, along with Yellow River Piano Concerto

It’s a one-movement violin concerto with seven distinct sections; solo violin is the (female) protagonist while the solo cello is her lover.

One of the first times skating was introduced to Butterfly Lovers was by none other than Peggy Fleming, who performed it simply but elegantly (of course) in 1982 when she performed in China… several years before the country became a pairs skating powerhouse:

It was Chen Lu’s performance of “Lovers” at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics that earned Lu her second Olympic Bronze Medal— and a lasting appreciation of the music for skating fans worldwide.

Several years later, part of the aforementioned Chinese pairs powerhouse— Pang/Tong— depicted the Lovers in the 2004-5 season. (They won bronze with this performance at the 2004 Grand Prix Final in Beijing.)

More recently, of course, we’ve seen USA’s Karen Chen interpretation of Butterfly Lovers both in 2020-21 season (where she secured three Olympic spots with this performance at 2021 Worlds, below)… and in 2021-22.

As for Madame Butterfly, it too became endeared by figure skating fans in the 1990s when 1992 OGM Kristi Yamaguchi made it a memorable feature of Stars on Ice at its popularity peak…

Then in 2006, China’s Shen/Zhao transcended an incredibly difficult season (Zhao dealt with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon) to manage a second Olympic Bronze medal with this performance to Madame Butterfly…

It has been further embraced in recent years by Japanese champion women like Mao Asada, who made it her final Worlds’ free skate in 2016—

— As well as Satoko Miyahara, who earned a World Bronze Medal with her interpretation two years later.

Given that Canada’s Madeline Schizas (reportedly of Greek/Indian descent) is the latest World/Olympic competitor to embrace Puccini’s opera, it feels safe to say this butterfly’s “tale” has now flown to even more parts of the skating universe.