Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D810 'Death and the Maiden' (Der Tod und das Mädchen)

“The superlative technical skills of these young Russian-Israelis, and a tendency to squeeze out every drop of expression, can actually obstruct the music they play so brilliantly. Thus, the natural sweetness of the D minor andante’s major-key variation is so overemphasised as almost to negate its purpose. That, however, is the obverse of their great virtues. Death and the Maiden is a haunted work, and the way they seize on the tiniest detail to increase the tension - a pianissimo tremolo, a brief, explosive forte - is often thrilling. They need only relax a little to be genuinely outstanding.” Sunday Times, 25th May 2008 ***

“[The Jerusalem Quartet's] recording of Schubert's Death and the Maiden quartet finds them at their most uncompromising, with an epic, angry interpretation of a work usually considered elegiac and consolatory. From the furiously articulated opening chords, this is first and foremost a howl of rage against encroaching mortality. The integrity of the performance is never in doubt, and the playing is often breathtaking in its commitment and fire, but the unremitting bleakness of it all can be as forbidding as it is impressive. Its companion piece, the C Minor Quartetsatz, is similarly interpreted in the starkest of colours, with the dialogues between the first violin (Andrei Pavlovsky) and cello (Kyril Zlotnikov) sounding not so much like duets as duels. An admirable disc, though one that's also hard to like.” The Guardian, 9th May 2008 ***

“Passion and a feverish energy characterise this young Israeli quartet. First up is Schubert’s magnificent Quartettsatz, and the temperature continues for Death and the Maiden. Yet they’re never undisciplined – the cellist even keeps his head playing Jacqueline du Pré’s cello (loaned by Daniel Barenboim). Other groups get closer to Schubert’s tender side, but for racing blood, go to Jerusalem.” The Times, 9th May 2008 ****

“The youthful Jerusalem Quartet… are to be heard on an outstanding disc… Their mastery of rubato is as refined as that of any contemporary group, and this disc is as near to perfection as one can possibly find.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2008 *****

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.

"The Melos Quartet… seem to have all the answers to these four masterpieces by Schubert." – CD Review