Let’s finish with this first. Violinists are to the fore (the leader particular so); their lines are short on luminosity while the viola and cello are weaker. Is this the quartet’s natural balance and sound? Or is the recording responsible for the anomaly? And would SACD playback create a different impression?

Answers aren’t easy to find; but, despite this, it is easy to hear that the Amsterdam Quartet are high in technical aptitude and discerning musicianship, certainly in the first two works. Allegro con spirito is the marking for the opening movement of Op 20 No 3 and that is what these musicians offer, spiritedly passionate, no scrambling. And much artistic and physical effort is expended to capture the tenseness of the Allegro molto finale. These are examples of how meticulous the Quartet are at expressing mood within chosen tempi, like leaning into the paired groups of notes to find the required graciousness in the slow movement of Op 74 No 1; and finding a similar quality in the succeeding Minuet and Trio even though both are fairly swiftly paced.

Similar standards prevail in the first half of Op 76 No 1. But after an Adagio sostenuto second movement strong on dynamic control and emotional feeling, the musicians rather surprisingly lose their grip; the Minuet is far from epigrammatic and slack articulation diminishes the snappy, dancelike nature of the finale. Ironically, inner clarity is a little better in these two movements than elsewhere.