The Takács Quartet's recording of Schubert's Death and the Maiden ranks among the definitive recordings of that enduring work, praised for "immaculate playing and sublime beauty" (The Independent, London). The quartet complements Schubert's haunting lyricism with Haydn's bold and brilliant Quartet No. 54 from Op. 71, and Shostakovich's restless Quartet No. 3, composed during the turmoil of World War II at the height of the composer's confrontations with the Stalinist regime.