A trailblazing period-instrument festival turns 50
Aston Magna marks a half-century of historically informed performances
The great American early music revival began about a half a century ago, and not many groups involved in its launch have run the full distance. Aston Magna is one of them. This pioneering Berkshires-based summer festival has been presenting historically informed performances since 1972, and counts among its accomplishments the first live performance of Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos on period instruments in modern times.
Boston-based violinist Daniel Stepner has served as Aston Magna’s artistic director since 1990. On the eve of the festival’s 50th-anniversary season (June 22 to July 22), he spoke with the Globe about its early roots, its approach to period repertoire, and its plans to celebrate its first half-century in high style.
Q. How did you first get involved with Aston Magna?
A. I attended concerts in Great Barrington in the second summer of the festival, and I was very struck with the quality. Carol Bogart sang Monteverdi, Albert Fuller played harpsichord, and Stanley Ritchie and Jaap Schröder were playing violin. I had been experimenting with Baroque violin as a graduate student at Yale, and it was a real burgeoning field. Within a couple years, I was asked to play with the festival, and I did off and on for a number of years.
Then in 1992, I became the artistic director. At first I wasn’t sure I was right for the job, but it’s been a wonderful ride for many years. It allowed me to experiment with both repertoire and instruments. Programming is such a wonderful challenge, and I wanted to keep it fresh.
Q. How would you define the festival’s core repertoire for readers who have never attended?
A. The original idea was to focus on period instruments and period vocal styles. We perform in venues which are similar in size to the venues that Vivaldi and Bach were heard in, and quite a bit smaller than large modern concert halls. The festival started with a focus on music from Monteverdi through Bach, but as research into instrument making and new editions has come out, it’s expanded in both directions. We’ve crept into the 19th century as well as earlier, with wonderful 16th-century madrigals, for instance. Along with the concerts, we’ve also had many seminars, gatherings of scholars, funded generously by the NEH for many years.
Q. Looking ahead to the 50th-anniversary season, you’ll be starting with performances of Stravinsky’s well-known “L’Histoire du Soldat” paired with a rare work by Alessandro Scarlatti called “Humanitá e Lucifero.” What can you tell us about the latter?
A. I was looking over Scarlatti’s catalog of works, which is astounding. He wrote hundreds of cantatas and motets and something like 85 operas. One of the titles popped out at me — “Humanitá e Lucifero.” I thought it sounded fascinating so I tried to track down the music but it didn’t exist! It had never been published, but I got a hold of the manuscript from Münster, Germany, and made my own edition of it for these performances, which will be the first in the United States that I know of. It’s a fascinating little narrative about humanity channeling the Virgin Mary as an infant, celebrating Mary’s birth and lauding her qualities. Then the devil pops up, and over the course of about a half an hour, the infant Mary vanquishes the devil! It’s being wonderfully sung by Frank Kelley and Kristen Watson. It’s a somewhat ridiculous text, but the music really is fantastic.
Q. On the other end of the festival, the final two programs are billed as Baroque celebrations.
A. Yes they will feature three Brandenburg Concertos, and two Bach Cantatas. This music just says so much about human emotions. I think one of Bach’s purposes was to comfort people who were suffering. We’re doing Cantatas Nos. 54 and 106, and the latter is one of my very favorite pieces of music, comforting people who are fearful of death. It’s a small-scale piece in a way, but it ends with a wonderful light touch. In the final “Amen,” the last sounds you hear are just two recorders and gamba. Not with a big bang, but it’s a wonderful evaporation.
Q. Is there a message you’re hoping to communicate through this season of celebration?
A. I think it’s wonderful that Aston Magna has weathered the pandemic, and that I’m now also able to involve younger musicians experimenting with repertoire, and to continue challenging myself as a violinist. Our audience has grown steadily. We’ve had a very supportive board. Really, I couldn’t ask for more.