‘Edgy, inspired playing, with enough broody lyricism to set the atmosphere of the A minor's opening in a few notes, and to balance its outwardly more cheerful finale with a disingenous wistfulness that tells us we're hearing the tip of Schubert's emotional iceberg. Death and the Maiden is given a high-octane treatment that exposes Schubert's raw nerve-endings with strong tempi and a near-violent intensity of tone’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Schubert's two most accessible quartets receive interpretations on this disc which are as near ideal as one is ever likely to hear’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Death and the Maiden is a deeply affecting reading with the violin of Edward Dusinberre tenderly conveying the maiden's vulnerability and the mounting panic as she is stalked by the insistent death march of the other three instruments. The musicians capture Schubert's distinctive blend of beauty and angst’ (The Observer)

‘This is intense music-making of very high quality indeed’ (International Record Review)

‘This superb CD is [The Takács Quartet's] first for Hyperion: immaculate playing and sublime beauty’ (The Independent)

‘The quartets … receive performances that do radiant justice to their genius. That of the D minor is prodigious. I have never heard the panic-stricken finale—music whose audacities still take the breath away—played more ferociously. The Takács also find memorably hushed sounds for the twilight world that much of both works inhabits’ (The Sunday Times)

„Ein wunderbare Einspielung mit einem Quartett, das vielleicht bislang zu wenig Beachtung fand—Is there really a view of Schubert's String Quartet No 14 that hasn't yet been considered? Is it possible to add to the already countless number of interpretations one that is fresh and new? On hearing this recent recording by the Takács Quartet, the answer has to be 'Yes!' For here less emphasis is placed on Schubert's melodic language, and on the purely songlike, and much more weight is given to the sense of dramatic development so important in this work: an intensive interplay with the formal material, with the expressive power of communication itself. And so the Takács Quartet builds up a musical portrayal as intoxicating as it is charged with emotion, one of a kind that has never been heard before. Beauty of tone is not the main aim here, but rather the harmonious euphony of the different voices, here achieved so superbly: above all in the quartet's second movement, the variations, before melancholy and despair take a rest during the Presto, then culminate completely in the Tarantella of the Finale. The recording of the Quartet No 13, the so-called Rosamunde also shows the same approach of constant urgency, possibly expressing Schubert's intentions far better than the usual meticulously reproduced melodic treasury. A marvellous recording, by a quartet to which perhaps too little attention has been paid so far“ (Ensemble, Germany)

'The accuracy of his [Roman Simović’s] tempos help develop a primarily balanced vision, never at the expense of emotion and mystery' (Diapason, France)

'The performance as a whole is memorable for the subtle dynamic shades in the central movements… an acceleration in the work’s final bars showcases the ensemble’s virtuosity and brings the work to a brilliant conclusion' (The Strad)

'Una interpretación a nivel altísimo. Muy ben sonido' (CD Compact, Spain)

‘On these two CDs you hear two hours and 20 minutes of the most wonderful piano music anyone has ever written. A great deal of it is played with almost ideal intelligence and power’ (Classic CD)

‘This is music that pulls us in myriad of emotional directions and includes some mightily challenging writing. All of this is welcome meat and drink to the excellent Gaudier Ensemble, who play the work with an obviously deep affection’ (The Evening Standard)