Saint-Saëns was barely out of his teens when he wrote his only Piano Quintet (1855) – an attractive work, even if its inspiration and craftsmanship are inconsistent. The weaknesses lie mainly in the tempestuous first movement, where so much of the material feels prefatory. Guillaume Bellom and the Girard Quartet are persuasive advocates, however, playing it with a conviction that borders on the zealous. It’s virtually note-perfect, too, which is particularly impressive given the concerto-like demands of the piano part and the fact that that the recording was made at a single live concert.

Andrea Lucchesini and the Quartetto di Cremona, who offer the same coupling, provide somewhat greater refinement in the remaining movements, although Bellom and the Girard have their moments. Their playing in the Andante sostenuto can be rapturous – try, say, the moonlit interlude at 1'39". They home in on the macabre character of the Presto third movement and imbue the fugal finale with a careful balance of expansive gesture and affectionate detail. Unfortunately, they’re let down by an overly resonant recording in which loud passages become clangorous and clouded.

The String Quartet (1899) fares better sonically, though it’s still gauzy. The four Girard siblings have a warm, beautifully blended tone and negotiate the work’s myriad rhythmic and textural intricacies with élan. How closely attuned they are to the opening Allegro’s slightly obsessive and deeply melancholic qualities, and how firm yet flexible a grip they keep on the vertiginously syncopated Scherzo. I’m troubled, though, by the lack of real piano or pianissimo playing, such a crucial component in such intensely intimate music. Whether this is the fault of the musicians or the microphone placement, I can’t say, but it spoils an otherwise heartfelt reading of the Molto adagio – the Cremona play it with an enthralling hush. In the finale, on the other hand, the Girard’s combination of lilt and brio is far preferable to the Cremona’s relative stodginess.

In sum, stick with the Cremona for the Piano Quintet. As for the shockingly underrated String Quartet, search out the Miami Quartet’s superb recording for Conifer (3/98 – nla); it’s well worth the hunt.