Album: Schubert, Quartettsatz/Der Tod und das Mädchen – Jerusalem Quartet (Harmonia Mundi)

After two searing recordings of Shostakovich, and a balmy, tender disc of Dvorak, the Jerusalem Quartet have turned to one of the most famous and widely recorded quartets in the repertoire and one of the shortest.

A fragment of what might have been, Schubert's Quartettsatz in C minor was left incomplete at the composer's death. In this and the harrowing "Der Tod und das Mädchen", the Jerusalem Quartet's eloquence rivals that of a great lieder artist. The colours are dark but vivid, the narrative beautifully controlled, the blend impeccable, the Andante sublime, the Allegro and Presto positively terrifying.

Pick of the Album: A superbly paced, powerful account of the 'Andante'