It’s funny to think that Max Bruch was once viewed as a modernist. But when his Op 5 Piano Trio was played in Cologne in 1857, critics objected to its three-movement form. Or so we learn from Tully Potter’s booklet notes for this splendid all-Bruch recital from The Nash Ensemble. The Nash’s previous Bruch disc on Hyperion – comprising the string quintets and string Octet (5/17) – was intelligently conceived and magnificently played, making the case for Bruch as the pre-eminent disciple (if not quite the equal) of Schumann and Brahms. I’m delighted to say that this new release only strengthens that impression.

The E major String Quartet, Op 10, has all the passion and poetry of that earlier disc. Stephanie Gonley, leading, provides a Mendelssohn-like brilliance at the top of a generous, buoyant ensemble sound, and there’s a sense of drama about the opening gestures, giving way to a gleeful, headstrong energy that carries this warm-hearted work convincingly to its finish. But the main focus is on chamber music with piano, and from the beautifully balanced opening phrases of the Op 5 Trio (Gonley and cellist Adrian Brendel are strikingly unselfish collaborators) to the tempestuous outburst at the centre of the Op 85 Romance (with Lawrence Power sounding both eloquent and expansive), there’s a real sense not just of intimacy but of momentum.

Pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips has much to do with that; listen to the way he subtly emphasises his left hand in dialogue with the strings in the Trio, and the limpid, glinting lightness with which he illuminates the more energetic passages. These are performances to make you realise that you’ve underestimated Bruch – and to leave you very happily corrected.