The matchless Takács Quartet return to Schubert. Their first disc on Hyperion - his ‘Death and the Maiden’ and ‘Rosamunde’ quartets - received unprecedently lavish critical acclaim, acknowledging a new modern benchmark for these works.

Now they turn to perhaps the most hauntingly beautiful of all Schubert’s chamber works, the String Quintet - completed six weeks before the composer’s death. Schubert included a second cello in the texture, creating a sumptuously warm sound, a cradling intimacy. Here the Takács players are joined by cellist Ralph Kirshbaum.

Also recorded here is the ‘Quartettsatz’: a fragment, of the highest quality, of a String Quartet in C minor abandoned by the composer.

The Anglo-Hungarian Takács Quartet has won many plaudits for their series of classical and romantic quartets on the Hyperion label, not least their remarkable 2006 accounts of Schubert's 'Death and the Maiden' and 'Rosamunde' Quartets, which was their first recording for the company. This latest release, in which they are joined for the Quintet by renowned American cellist Ralph Kirshbaum, is a more than worthy successor.

Among the Takács' many virtues is their ability to achieve the highest level of informed technical accomplishment without ever losing sight of the 'big picture' in great music, that sense of long line and overall expressive shape which so often eludes even the finest musicians. Here, particularly in the vast expanses of the String Quintet, that sense of overall purpose is crucial in successfully charting and reconciling the music's many emotional tensions.

It is the conflict between the serene and the dramatic that famously provides the expressive momentum in so much of Schubert, and above all in the Quintet, his last chamber work. In this recording there is a palpable sense of drive and urgency in the more turbulent passages, a stormy excitement to the playing which is tremendously involving without ever losing clarity of articulation. At the same time, the players open out to just the right degree in the more expansive, lyrical pages, relishing the music's beauty without ever crossing that thin dividing-line into indulgence. Thus the hesitant tenderness at the moment of return to the Adagio's main theme is exquisitely handled, whilst the opening of the Scherzo has rarely sounded so explosive, as the musicians really 'dig in' to their instruments. And they capture perfectly the quintessentially Austrian accents at the beginning of the finale, before clearly relishing the final headlong tumble to the work's staggering close. With well-judged tempi throughout, and just the right amount of sweetness to the tone, this is a powerfully competitive account — in a crowded field — of what is arguably Schubert's greatest chamber work.

The coupling is the great C minor 'Quartettsatz', the only finished movement of a work written by Schubert in December 1820 and one of his most tantalising musical torsos. Here again, the Takács' playing is exceptionally vivid and urgent, yet sensitive and with moments of great warmth and delicacy.

In summary, this is chamber-music playing of the highest order, with that musical intelligence which is the hallmark of the Takács Quartet in constant evidence. Hyperion's recording combines space with presence and detail, allowing each strand of Schubert's glorious creations to be heard clearly whilst blending into a satisfying whole. Presentation is well up to the label's customary high standards, with exemplary, detailed notes by Mischa Donat, and cover artwork (Pernhart's 1857 View of the Grossglockner) which hints at not only the music's expressive 'peaks' but also its splendidly broad vistas.