Tetzlaff Quartet April 16, 2011

San Francisco Performances presents the Tetzlaff Quartet-formed in 1994 by violin virtuoso Christian Tetzlaff, his sister Tanja, and friends Hanna Weinmeister and Elisabeth Kufferath-in its SF debut 8 p.m. Saturday, April 16 at Herbst Theatre.

Each year, the Tetzlaffs, Weinmeister and Kufferath come together from their performing and teaching careers to play together, and the result is a tribute to the musicianship of each: "an overwhelming performance" (The New York Times).

As a quartet, they perform often in Europe and the United States and in fall of 2010 released their first CD, of Schoenberg and Sibelius. For their San Francisco debut, they bring Haydn's Quartet in G minor from Opus 20, one of the works that revolutionized the quartet form, Mendelssohn's homage to Beethoven-Quartet in A minor-and Schoenberg's tonal yet forward-thinking Quartet No. 1, composed when he was just 30.

Christian Tetzlaff is one of today's great violin virtuosi and first came to SF Performances in 1994. Beyond his solo career, he maintains a dynamic chamber performance schedule not only with this quartet but also in frequent collaboration with Leif Ove Andsnes and Lars Vogt. Violinist Kufferath is a solo performer as well as former concertmaster of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Currently, she is a professor at the conservatory in Hannover. Violist Weinmeister is concertmaster with the Opera Zurich orchestra in addition to her solo career. Tanja Tetzlaff performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician.

The Tetzlaff Quartet ushers audiences into the intimacy and immediacy of music through the warmth and cohesiveness of their interpretations. Tickets start at $35. For more information, visit sfperformances.org or call 415.392.2545.

Official Website: http://sfperformances.org/performances/1011/TetzlaffQuartet.html