Composer: Franz Peter Schubert
Performer: Takács Quartet
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Hyperion
Catalogue: CDA67585
Release: 2006
Size: 300 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Andante con moto
03. III. Scherzo: Allegro molto
04. IV. Presto
String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D804 ‘Rosamunde’
05. I. Allegro ma non troppo
06. II. Andante
07. III. Menuetto: Allegretto
08. IV. Allegro moderato
Hyperion’s Record of the Month for October marks the debut on the label by the Takács Quartet. After seventeen years recording for Decca, including multi-awarding-winning cycles of quartets by Beethoven and Bartók, this thrilling ensemble is now embarking on a new relationship with Hyperion; future projects will include works by Brahms, Janácek 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 Takács’ 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 Takács trademark, certainly didn’t fail here.’ We have every confidence that this recording, and the Hyperion/Takács collaboration in general, will prove to be one of the brightest jewels in the Hyperion catalogue.