Chinese piano virtuoso, 86, is 'Older but Wiser'

A screen shot of Elaine Wu performing Butterfly Lovers. [Photo/CGTN]

The clip of Elaine Wu performing the classical Chinese composition Butterfly Lovers in late February has been reposted more than 30,000 times on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

Wu's life is the stuff of legends. She began learning to play piano at the age of 6. When she was 18, her debut public performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.1 drew a rave response in the music industry.

At age 23, she served as the first soloist in the China National Orchestra, and won the title of National First Class Pianist in 1962, when she met with then Premier Zhou Enlai.

Wu herself was taught by Mario Paci, the Italian musician and piano educator known for establishing classical Western music in China, and she has also composed and arranged numerous pieces of Chinese piano music.

For instance, she originated and first played the piano part of the Chinese violin concerto Butterfly Lovers.

Settled in Singapore since 1993, she has been instrumental in nurturing young musicians.

On February 25, she was invited to perform this masterpiece as part of a forum named Older but Wiser in Singapore.

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