Author Archives: Scott Foglesong

I’ve been having a ball with Tommy Krasner’s painstaking restoration of the 1934 Broadway review Life Begins at 8:40, a long-forgotten jewel of a show with a score by Harold Arlen, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, and Ira Gershwin. Now there’s a … Continue reading →

I came across a discussion on an audiophile site about the wisdom—or even possibility—of comparing high-end audio to live concert-hall sound. The original poster was of the firm opinion that the so-called holy grail of achieving live concert-hall sound in … Continue reading →

Regular readers of Free Composition are aware that I have recently begun researching a long article on Handel’s Messiah. (It’s for the Philharmonia Baroque’s December concerts, by the way.) If you need a quick review, here it is. Part of … Continue reading →

Viewed from ground level, peering upwards, Handel’s Messiah is one big momma. But here I totter on my little feet, desk stacked with books, computer stuffed with articles, iTunes humming with recordings, contemplating an article on the oratorio. My program … Continue reading →

When I got off the phone with the executive director of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, just having agreed to come on board as the PBO’s program annotator—i.e., the guy who writes the program notes—I had to suppress an Indian-style war-whoop. … Continue reading →

Richard Corliss’ recent article on Stephen Sondheim reminds me that for Broadway composers, younger (up to a point) is generally better. As I think back over some of my favorite Broadway composers, I can see that very few of them … Continue reading →

In my home archives lies a sold-but-never-printed program note on the Dvořák Seventh Symphony in D Minor. My article languishes due to a conductor’s illness; the Seventh was axed off the program by his replacement, and thus my note went … Continue reading →

I live in a doll house on a miniature street in a compact neighborhood in a midget city. My doll house is surrounded by other doll houses, the street is lined with toy trees, the neighborhood is ringed by hills, … Continue reading →

There. I’ve done it. I considered; I decided; I acted. The Rubicon has been crossed, the die has been cast, [your favorite time-worn cliché here.] I have removed the San Francisco Chronicle from my web browser bookmarks. After several years … Continue reading →

Of late I’ve been bathing, luxuriating, and reveling in the shimmering luminance that is the Staatskapelle Dresden playing the Schubert symphonies. No other orchestra produces such a seamless yet lithe sound, no other orchestra possesses such golden brass or winsome … Continue reading →