These recordings were very well received when first issued, and one can see why. The playing is beautifully matched and integrated, rhythmical and spirited, with an uncomplicated approach to interpretation that allows the music to speak directly to us. The Cummings Trio is at its best in the six-movement Op 3; the outer Allegros have a fine momentum and energy, the Adagio poised and sweetly expressive, and the Andante light and delicate at a daringly (and probably authentically) fast tempo. This Andante seems, in context, far too short, because the repeats are omitted – one instance of several such disappointments. A few movements failed to impress me – a rather stodgy opening Allegretto in Op 9 No 2, and first and last movements in the passionate C minor Trio, Op 9 No 3 that downplay Beethoven’s characteristically agitated mood. Elsewhere, the Cummingses are reliable, sensitive guides. But do they measure up to more recent competition?

The starry trio of Mutter, Giuranna, and Rostropovich bring a virtuoso panache to the ambitiously written double-stops, scales and chords of the Op 8 Serenade’s introductory march, and in the same work’s Andante the players’ wide experience as soloists tells in the supremely confident way each variation is characterised. The Leopold Trio’s set, particularly well recorded, offers playing of exceptional finesse. The eloquence of this version, often expressed in small details of phrasing or tone colour, continually illuminates and animates the texture of the music; compared to them the Cummings Trio can sound rather plain. But they still represent a good bargain, and demonstrate to anyone unfamiliar with these works what an extra-ordinary writer of string music the young Beethoven was.