Surprise No 1: this is not, as you might initially assume, a period-instrument reading of Beethoven’s Rasumovskys. Surprise No 2: if you’re familiar with the Kuijken Quartet of old, this is not it, for it’s now an entirely family concern consisting of two generations of this musicianly family, with Sigiswald’s wife, viola player Marleen Thiers, joining the throng for the Quintet. In a way, I was disappointed that this was a modern-instrument reading, for a set of Rasumovskys on early instruments by musicians as attuned and probing as these would have been truly noteworthy. It’s still a curiously under-explored field on record.

In a crowded field, this new version stands its ground. Tempi tend to be swifter than some, and when it comes to capturing the intensity of creation of Beethoven’s extraordinary triptych, the Kuijken Quartet are often compelling. In the Adagio molto e mesto of Op 59 No 1, for instance, they find an almost Shostakovichian bleakness to its opening and their sense of focus is unfailing. Admittedly, there are more rapt versions around, not least the beautifully poised Hungarian, the hypnotic Takács and the Alban Berg’s first cycle, which avoids extremes but has a naturalness and an innate musicality which never fail to move. In the scherzando second movement, the Kuijken finds a lively humour that rivals The Lindsays and, particularly, the playful Artemis Quartet.

The slight rawness of sound (particularly that of leader Veronica) might bother some – though it is no more pronounced than that of The Lindsays’ Peter Cropper – but to my ears it often adds a piquancy to the interpretation, not least in the jarring rhythms that permeate the third movement of Op 59 No 2 and – at the other end of the emotional gamut – the amorphous slow introduction to Op 59 No 3. The Quintet is another impressive achievement and makes an enterprising finale to this set.