In spring 2009 Channel 4 sent the sixteen-year-old British-Russian composer-conductor Alex Prior around the world: his task, to find ‘The World’s Greatest Musical Prodigies’ for a TV series with that title and to compose a concerto for them, which Alex would conduct. The resulting work, Velesslavitsa (the title means ‘Glory to Veles’, the god of music in ancient Slav cultures), is steeped in the Russian Romantic tradition, with echoes especially of Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. This live recording features the ten-year-old Chinese pianist Zhang Xiao Ming, the American violinists Simone Porter and Michael Province, twelve and thirteen, and the fifteen-year American cellist Nathan Chan.
‘I promise that you won’t hear a more exciting, invigorating work of classical music anywhere.’ Journal Alive 30/4/09
‘There is grandeur in its progress from darkness to light and a sense of growing unity as the four soloists become more closely intertwined with each other and the orchestra. It had a superb first performance and could put more than its composer on the musical map for a long time to come.’ North East News 2/5/09
‘Province and Chan[…]their sheer pleasure in music was a fillip in itself […] Porter was the consummate chamber musician. Best of the lot was the diminutive Xiaoming […] already fully in command of the music. […] it was no surprise that Velesslavitsa […] has drama, colour and excitement in abundance. And Prior the conductor is an absolute professional […]. No longer a Wunderkind, he’s well on the way to being a Wunderadult.’ The Independent 11/5/09
‘[…] a triumph. The concerto is an exhilarating, rip-roaring melodic noise […]. And the four young musicians […] rise to the occasion like seasoned professionals’ The Times 21/6/09
