Although competition among DVDs of chamber music is rarely intense, this new release does have rivals. In 2005 Testament released a pair of DVDs filmed live at the Maltings, Snape, in 1977, on each of which the Amadeus Quartet paired a Britten quartet with works by Schubert. Dating from a year after Britten’s death, these recordings might claim historic status. The playing is authoritative, the camerawork very simple – mostly static long shots.

This new DVD from the Belcea Quartet is a rather different prospect. Here are all three Britten quartets, apparently brought together from stand-alone programmes. The venue is the utilitarian Studio Davout in Paris, where there is an audience of around two dozen. In contrast to the BBC broadcasts from Snape, the editing is restless, cutting constantly from one player to another, but that is arguably in keeping with the performances. Playing in the resonant acoustic of the Maltings, the Amadeus are broad in style, deep in tone, while the Belcea play as though to intimate friends, fleet in speed, quick with nuance. The central Vivace of the Second Quartet is trenchant in the hands of Amadeus, where the Belcea sense the storms of Peter Grimes out to sea. The Amadeus announce the great ‘Chacony’ with measured wisdom, the Belcea with a kick of the intensity to come.

Play this new DVD alongside the Belcea’s award-winning Warner Classics CD set of the Britten quartets (7/05) and you will do well to spot the difference. Perhaps the new, live recordings have a smidgen more urgency; the studio recordings benefit from a deeper ambience. If it is Britten on film that is required, the Amadeus String Quartet can claim a special authority, but this Belcea DVD has the advantage of the three quartets neatly packaged, vividly filmed, intensely well played.