Czech Philharmonic ⬩ Tom Borrow

At the time, Tom Borrow played Mozart, standing in for the originally scheduled soloist. This time he will present himself playing Beethoven, whose Fourth Concerto is a work on the cusp of Classicism and Romanticism. “There’s a certain bitter-sweet quality,” says Borrow. “On the surface it seems very positive and joyful, especially in the third movement, but right from the start, from the first movement and even though it’s written in a major key, the seeming positivity covers an ache of sadness. I have come to this concerto for the first time during this past year or so, and the process of learning it has been such a pleasure. There is so much to discover. The great challenge is to make the most out of the passagework—there are so many subtleties that must be acknowledged and sometimes enhanced. I hope I will manage to rise to the challenge.”