“Op 74 is an underrated masterpiece of deep consummate beauty of thought and execution.” Robert Simpson’s words, taken further by his description of the introductory poco adagio as “lit from within by a quiet, human warmth”, find an echo in the Tokyo String Quartet’s interpretation of the work. Their own consummate beauty of thought and expression is heard as the sotto voce opening edges through shadowy harmonies into the main Allegro where the tautening of tension reaches its height in the C major section of the development. Beethoven’s markings of fortissimo and sforzando appear for the first time, yet here is force without an excessive edge; and, conversely, the force of the Tokyo’s very soft playing, as at the end of the Scherzo, is telling too.

Back in 1934 Marion M Scott described Op 95 as a “serious, passionate, hard-bitten work, with its rough humour, grimly pointed wit and strange flashes of tenderness”. The Tokyo largely agree, while paying a little more attention to the flashes of tenderness, noticeably so in the first movement where the contrast between terse drive and lyrical flexibility is wider than is usually heard. Yet this tightly knit structure, its tightness accentuated by the absence of an exposition repeat, remains intact. Response to the other movements is equally thoughtful, not least to the near-surreal moments in the Allegretto ma non troppo. In turn, listeners are sure to respond to this artistry as readily as they would to the crystalline clarity of SACD sound.