It would be hard to imagine a finer version of the sadly neglected Grieg Quartet, the only one he completed. Here the Hagen Quartet celebrate their 30th anniversary with this superb version, gloriously played and recorded, coupling it with the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, in which their fellow Austrian, Jörg Widmann, joins the team.

What is so winning is the natural, unforced flexibility of the Hagen’s playing in the Grieg, making it sound totally idiomatic. When Grieg, echoing Norwegian folk music, writes with frequent changes of mood and tempo, that unforced quality is vital. In addition, the dynamic range of their playing is extreme, with their hushed pianissimos making one catch the breath before the high contrast of emphatic chordal writing, as at the very start, hits the ear hard and precise. Not only that, the dynamic shading of melody as in the soaring second theme of the first movement is most beautiful, very distinctive of Grieg.

The slow movement in 6/8 becomes a haunting lullaby with a contrasting interlude marked agitato. The Intermezzo third movement, with its central scherzando Trio section, leads on to the finale, with a brief Lento introduction taking one into the main Saltarello section, as light and beautifully sprung as any Mendelssohn scherzo.

In the Brahms, Widmann’s clarinet is first among equals. Even in the heavenly slow movement, hushed and intense, where the clarinet has the main melodies, the integration with the accompanying strings is what matters. Above all, the performance brings out the mellow, Brahmsian warmth of this late work, inspired by the playing of Richard Mühlfeld. As in the Grieg, the phrasing is flexible with natural, unforced rubato in all four movements. Typically for Brahms, the brief third movement, marked Andantino, in dactylic rhythm, takes the place of a scherzo.

This is the second of the ensemble’s discs designed to celebrate their 30th anniversary; they should be congratulated on their success.