Prom 15 – Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony

Part of the BBC Proms.

From the explosive energy of Bernstein’s Candide overture to the heart-tugging pathos of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, rising-star Canadian conductor Jordan de Souza makes his Proms debut with a programme that runs the gamut of human experience and emotion. Young Swedish violinist Johan Dalene (currently a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist) is the soloist in Barber’s Violin Concerto – its long-breathed lyricism a foil to the charged concision of centenary composer George Walker’s Variations for Orchestra. At the climax of the programme is Tchaikovsky’s deeply personal Fourth Symphony, a musical exploration of the ‘inexorable power’ of fate.