Pianist Grosvenor to Join Up with Doric Quartet

Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor (photograph by Andrej Grilc, courtesy of SFP)

The Doric String Quartet, whose members are violinists Alex Redington and Ying Xue, violist Hélène Clément, and cellist John Myerscough, had been scheduled to make its San Francisco Performances (SFP) debut in January of 2021; but, like so many of the concerts planned for that year, their program had to be cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. At the end of this month, they will finally be able to make their debut in Herbst Theatre. They will have a guest artist for the occasion, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, meaning that their program will mark the conclusion of this season’s Great Artists and Ensembles Series.

Grosvenor, who was last seen in San Francisco when he presented a solo recital for the SFP Piano Series in March of 2019, will only appear in the second half of the program, when he will join the quartet in a performance of Frank Bridge’s piano quintet in D minor. For the first half the Doric will present yet another First Viennese School offering. This one will couple Ludwig van Beethoven with his “sometime” teacher Joseph Haydn. (The two of them did not get along very well.) The program will begin with the last of Beethoven’s “middle period” quartets, the Opus 95 in F minor, given the name “Serioso.” This will be followed by Haydn’s Hoboken III/49, the last of the six Opus 50 compositions, known as the “Prussian” quartets. This piece is often called “The Frog” for its proclivity for intervallic leaps.

This concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26. 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), $60 (remainder of Orchestra, all Side Boxes, and center rear Dress Circle), and $50 (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.