It all began in 1916. That’s when the then 108-year-old Gewandhaus Quartet entered the annals of recording history with a performance of Beethoven’s Op 131, excerpted on disc 10. Today its execution would be considered sloppy, the style unfamiliar. But the result is singularly moving, the artists uninhibitedly feeling the music from within them and not following a formula imposed upon them from without. Most authentic.

Switch to the Gewandhaus Quartet’s 1997 recording of the same work. The sound is obviously finer (though transfer levels throughout are not uniform), and the playing is precise; but it isn’t singularly moving. The musicians are reserved, holding back on reading beyond the score – and setting a pattern of inexplicable inconsistency. On the one hand, every Op 18 quartet, Op 59 Nos 2 and 3, Op 74, Op 95 and Op 135 are of a dramatic breadth that encompasses rhythmic resilience, force and soulfulness in an order of magnitude that lifts expectations to a very high level.

Yet for the rest, the Gewandhaus shy away from stepping into the maelstrom. The Grosse Fuge is a casualty as are some slow movements, notably those of Op 127, Op 132 and the Cavatina of Op 130. The heartfelt fervent intensity (or innigkeit) embedded in the music’s rich tapestry is not fully acknowledged. Interpretations do not run deep. It is difficult to fathom why in these cases the group show subjective detachment and offer little variety in tone and dynamics. A curate’s egg, as they say.