Aston Magna Music Festival, St. James Place, Great
Barrington, MA
June 24, 2017
by Barbara Stroup
 |
| Eric Hoeprich |
Few accolades exist that adequately describe the Aston Magna
sounds on Saturday at St. James Place. In a newly-restored venue fit for the
finest chamber music acoustic, the Festival presented guest artist Eric
Hoeprich in the familiar Mozart Clarinet Quintet. But there was nothing
ordinary in his sound and his instrument - the basset clarinet (the 18th
century ancestor of today’s more familiar reed) - nor in his mastery of this
beloved work. Ably surrounded by a fine string cohort of Aston Magna regulars,
his exceptional sound was soothing, assured, and masterful. The Larghetto movement
was particularly rich. The basset clarinet used in the concert duplicates the
instrument that Mozart would have heard, and was produced by Hoeprich’s own
hands. Master composition meets master instrument maker and master performer,
all in one afternoon.
The concert began with the Mozart Divertimento, a six part
“diversion” for violin, viola and cello. Meant as a departure from the cares of
life, Mozart wrote several for various instrumental combinations. Daniel
Stepner, David Miller and Loretta O’Sullivan spoke in the friendliest terms
through their music as themes presented themselves, were developed and returned
in the familiar fashion of early classical form. With Julie Leven, an
additional violin voice, they played the Adagio and Fugue after Intermission.
Their individual abilities to both come forward and then retreat allowed the
audience to follow the fugue entries successfully; this work has a darker
complexity that contrasted well with the Quintet that followed.
St. James Place was a church where a wall fell down and its
congregation dispersed. Through a long and loving restoration, it now takes on
a new role as a first-class venue for performance, with comfortable pew seating
and welcome air conditioning. Great Barrington can be proud of this
accomplishment, and proud to have hosted 45 years of Aston Magna magic.
