Proms 2024 Prom 66: Chineke! play Tchaikovsky’s ‘Pathétique’

Britain’s only orchestra of Black and ethnically diverse musicians returns to the Proms with music that celebrates its own heritage as well as universal dreams and aspirations. Stewart Goodyear is the soloist in his own vibrant celebration of Caribbean music, Callaloo, while Duke Ellington’s jazzed-up take on Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker turns waltz into swing and Sugar Plum into heady rum. Conductor Andrew Grams ends with the most emotionally intense and musically robust symphony Tchaikovsky ever wrote, his heartbreakingly autobiographical ‘Pathétique’.

Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3

Stewart Goodyear © Anita Zvonar