I went to "Steven Osborne Returns" at the Esplanade on Friday night with My Favourite Misanthrope.

Britten - Young Apollo, Op. 16:
The soloist was very animated. There's something about these soloists which makes them like to show off with their playing style. Parts of the score reminded me of the flight of a mosquito or some such flying insect.

Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K414:
The Mozart was a pleasant change. Some would call it banal, but then that apocryphal curse does go "may you live in interesting times". Interesting music is not necessarily pleasant or good. Besides which, the soloist didn't get to show off much with this piece. Perhaps the nature of Mozart piano concertos prevents virtuosic playing.

Me: No women throwing their underwear at him.
My favourite misanthrope: They'd probably get arrested... It's very hard to get excited by Mozart, much less sexually aroused.

Brahms - Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
I'm mostly ambivalent to Brahms. The piece was generally alright, except that the SSO brass was too whiney and the standard went down after the first movement or two ("[They're] wrestling a monster they can't contain"). I think it is because I like my music more thematic and structured than Brahms, which is sad because we don't get much Baroque music in Singapore, probably due to the lack of harpsichords.

For a more musically rigorous review, please look to my favourite misanthrope. I really should do my homework next time by listening to the pieces before the concert.

My favourite misanthrope also informs me that while in Europe, audiences cough a lot, and in the US, they cough a little, here in Singapore we don't cough much during concerts. So in at least one of the graciousness ratings we rank highly. Though maybe that has something to do with the age of the audiences.

Unfortunately, the night before I'd let someone talk me into sleeping at 2am. I really should stop sleeping late the night before concerts.