Composed in the early 1850s, when Anton Rubinstein was just finding his way, these two confident quartets sport evident virtues: structural solidity, harmonic assurance and a clear melodic profile. Unfortunately, beneath the proper surfaces, they reveal the lack of character that has nudged his music out of the repertoire.

Certainly, their trajectories offer little to grip our attention, as phrases clump along methodically. Nor are their well-manicured textures much more arresting: while the music has contrapuntal elements, there’s little contrapuntal interest. The Second Quartet, for example, begins strikingly with the exposition of a fugue – but Rubinstein retreats just as the development should begin. Listener engagement isn’t helped, either, by the stubborn way he gnaws at his ideas. The second movement of the Second incorporates a clever braying motif, but it’s overdone – as are the dotted rhythms in the second movement of the Third.

That said, the melodic material is less mundane than in many of his other works, and the scores are flecked with – although not quite brimming with – attractive moments. The Mendelssohnian opening theme of the Third is a charmer; the slow movements, while not profound, have a wistful beauty (check out the luminous ending of the Third’s Adagio, with its graceful cello pizzicatos). And although most of this music is even-tempered, there’s a burst of urgent intensity in the Second’s finale. Even if you’ve found Rubinstein’s piano and orchestral music drawn out and flavourless, these quartets may disarm you.

The Reinhold Quartet, members of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, can be rough in tone and pitch. But they offer commitment and affection, as well as some subtle interpretative flourishes (like the dabs of portamento in the Trio of the Third’s second movement). Worth considering.