SFP to Present SF Debut of Castalian Quartet

Castalian Quartet members Sini Simonen, Christopher Graves, Ruth Gibson, and Daniel Roberts (from the SFP event page for this concert)

In a little less than two weeks time, the Castalian Quartet will make its San Francisco debut under the auspices of San Francisco Performances (SFP). They will be the second of the six ensembles performing in this season’s Shenson Chamber Series. In fact their plans for this season involve debut performances in other major North American cities, including Seattle, New York, Atlanta, and Vancouver.

The quartet is based in the United Kingdom, where it was founded about a decade ago. The members are violinists Sini Simonen and Daniel Roberts, violist Ruth Gibson, and cellist Christopher Graves. Their program will begin in the nineteenth century and will then advance to two twentieth-century compositions that deserve more attention than they tend to get.

The opening selection will be Felix Mendelssohn’s final string quartet. Written in the key of F minor, it was assigned Opus number 80 after the composer’s death. The piece was Mendelssohn’s last major composition, and he died two months after concluding the score. The remainder of the program will involve two sharp contrasts with Mendelssohn’s rhetoric. The first of these will be György Ligeti’s first quartet, given the title “Métamorphoses nocturnes.” This will be followed by Jean Sibelius’ only published string quartet, Opus 56 in D minor, which also has a title: “Voces Intimae” (intimate voices).

This concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 17. It will take place in Herbst Theatre, whose entrance is on the ground floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. This venue is excellent for public transportation, since that corner has Muni bus stops for both north-south and east-west travel.

Ticket prices are $70 (premium Orchestra and front and center Dress Circle), $55 (remainder of Orchestra, all Side Boxes, and center rear Dress Circle), and $45 (remaining Dress Circle and Balcony); and they may be purchased through an SFP secure Web page. As available, single tickets will be sold at the door with a 50% discount for students and a 20% discount for seniors. Single tickets may also be purchased by calling 415-392-2545.