The violins and viola of Meta4 play standing. The musicians say that by so doing, they feel “a huge difference, not only in the physical but also the emotional freedom”. Does this stance also contribute to an edgy first violin? Antti Tikkanen has a bleached, penetrating timbre that places her apart – as in the slow movement of No 1. Her first entry in the ninth bar, though played softly, isn’t dolce as marked. There is no sweetness in her articulation, and only occasionally does she match the round sonorities and accommodating style of her partners.

Each of the three Minuets and Trios has a character of its own that she doesn’t acknowledge. In all cases the playing is of a generalised metrical gait. There’s no let-up for the lyrical Trio of No 1, little feeling for the sobriety of No 2 with its darkened Trio in F minor, and not a hint of the relaxation called for in the triplets that make up the Trio of No 3. Tikkanen’s insistent leadership tends to dominate, overriding the need for a yielding rhythmic elasticity that gives note-patterns a meaningful purpose. She doesn’t try “to divine what layers of spirit and expression lie beyond” (Susan Tomes). Just once, in the first movement of No 3, Tikkanen softens her approach in an attempt to reach out for a personal understanding of the music. Otherwise, formidable technical expertise, rather than keen artistic sensibility, governs these performances.