Violinist Sheila Fiekowsky and pianist Brett Hodgdon.
Photo by Bob Salerno |
Chamber Players Daniel Getz, viola, and clarinetist Catherine Hudgins. Photo by Liza Bennett
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The Chamber Players Winter Concert: An Evening of Musical Delights
By Liza Bennett
The West Stockbridge Congregational Church was filled to overflowing with music lovers on the last Wednesday evening of 2022 for the acclaimed West Stockbridge Chamber Players’ annual Winter Concert. “This is their 35th benefit concert for us,” West Stockbridge Historical Society President Robert Salerno told the audience before the concert began. “Their generosity and yours has allowed us, even during the pandemic, to move ahead with the restoration of the Old Town Hall.” He then went on to dedicate the event to Stuart Kuller, a longtime supporter of the Historical Society, who passed away this week and whose wife Carol has been instrumental in producing these wonderful concerts.
As the church’s candles flickered in the festively decorated church, the Chamber Players’ artistic director Catherine Hudgins, clarinet, and Brett Hodgdon, piano, performed Claude Debussy’s Première rhapsodie, a late piece by the composer that displayed all the brilliance of his greatest works. Violinist Sheila Fiekowsky introduced the next piece, Amy Beach’s Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 34, saying how much she loved this composition by the sadly overlooked composer whose remarkable canon includes more than 300 musical works. “This is one of the hardest pieces I’ve ever attempted,” she added. With pianist Brett Hodgdon, Fiekowsky gave a masterful performance, greeted with a standing ovation. The audience was then treated to an encore of another lovely Beach work.
After an intermission, Sheila Fiekowsky and Daniel Getz, longtime members of the Chamber Players, delighted the audience with a sparkling rendition of Mozart’s String Duo No. 1 in G major for violin and viola, K. 423. Catherine Hudgins introduced the final work of the evening: Robert Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen, Op. 132. She noted that Schumann wrote the short pieces, based on fairy tales, toward the end of his life when his mental health was starting to deteriorate. He told his wife Clara that he thought the audience would find them quite romantic. “By that, I think he meant that you can hear the fairy tales in the music,” Hudgins explained, “that it’s full of imagination.” Along with Brett Hodgdon and Daniel Getz, Hudgins brought Schumann’s charming compositions to life.
In the end, the entire program seemed imbued with the warmth and colorful spirit of Stuart Kuller, who supported and attended these magical evenings for so many years.
As the church’s candles flickered in the festively decorated church, the Chamber Players’ artistic director Catherine Hudgins, clarinet, and Brett Hodgdon, piano, performed Claude Debussy’s Première rhapsodie, a late piece by the composer that displayed all the brilliance of his greatest works. Violinist Sheila Fiekowsky introduced the next piece, Amy Beach’s Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 34, saying how much she loved this composition by the sadly overlooked composer whose remarkable canon includes more than 300 musical works. “This is one of the hardest pieces I’ve ever attempted,” she added. With pianist Brett Hodgdon, Fiekowsky gave a masterful performance, greeted with a standing ovation. The audience was then treated to an encore of another lovely Beach work.
After an intermission, Sheila Fiekowsky and Daniel Getz, longtime members of the Chamber Players, delighted the audience with a sparkling rendition of Mozart’s String Duo No. 1 in G major for violin and viola, K. 423. Catherine Hudgins introduced the final work of the evening: Robert Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen, Op. 132. She noted that Schumann wrote the short pieces, based on fairy tales, toward the end of his life when his mental health was starting to deteriorate. He told his wife Clara that he thought the audience would find them quite romantic. “By that, I think he meant that you can hear the fairy tales in the music,” Hudgins explained, “that it’s full of imagination.” Along with Brett Hodgdon and Daniel Getz, Hudgins brought Schumann’s charming compositions to life.
In the end, the entire program seemed imbued with the warmth and colorful spirit of Stuart Kuller, who supported and attended these magical evenings for so many years.