Takacs Quartet - Schubert: Death and the Maiden

Hyperion�s Record of the Month for October marks the debut on the label by the Takacs Quartet. After seventeen years recording for Decca, including multi-awarding-winning cycles of quartets by Beethoven and Bartok, this thrilling ensemble is now embarking on a new relationship with Hyperion; future projects will include works by Brahms, Janacek and Schumann.Schubert�s famous String Quartet, D810, subtitled �Death and the Maiden�, is one of the pillars of the repertoire. This new performance is electrifying, and was recorded following a global concert series, enthusiastically welcomed in the press: �The Takacs� reading of the second movement was characterized by unremitting pain and mystery. While three of the musicians intoned the insistent theme of Death in pursuit of the Maiden, Edward Dusinberre�s violin expressed poignantly the Maiden�s tender fragility and rising panic. The final movement, in the form of a somewhat crazed tarantella, was taken at breakneck speed, as if the four musicians were driving wild horses�though they never lost control of the reins. Risk-taking, a Takacs trademark, certainly didn�t fail here.�We have every confidence that this recording, and the Hyperion/Takacs collaboration in general, will prove to be one of the brightest jewels in the Hyperion catalogue.