The Norwegian Engegård Quartet have only recently started programming single-composer discs (they released Mozart’s ‘Prussian’ Quartets last year – LAWO Classics). The Schumanns are a fascinating and dangerous proposition for any quartet. In September I much enjoyed the First Quartet in a mixed disc from the Schumann Quartet. The Engegård are relatively laid-back in the Andante espressivo introduction and even in the Allegro they give the music plenty of space to breathe. The Elias play up the contrasts more, and their introduction is particularly intense, with the sparest of vibrato. In the Scherzo – a particular highlight in the Schumann Quartet’s account – the Engegård sound a touch deliberate in their speed and phrasing, which makes the music unduly earthbound. The slow movement is more effective, however, and they choose an apt tempo for the finale, though they don’t come close to the bounding energy of the Doric or the finesse of the Zehetmair.

In the Third it is the outer movements that come off best, the Engegård truly relishing the dancing finale. Though, if you turn to the recent Elias account, you’re frankly in a different league in terms of finesse and responsiveness. The Engegård’s second-movement Scherzo is a sunny affair, but how much more emotional complexity is revealed by the inward Zehetmair. In the Adagio molto the Engegård make much of the intensifying dissonances (from 4'40") and the way they draw to a quiet close is nicely judged.

However, it’s in the Second Quartet – the trickiest to bring off effectively – that I have the greatest doubts about this new disc. The opening sounds a little rushed, which is not a matter of speed per se but to do with their phrasing and the way they balance the four instruments; compared to them the Elias draw you into Schumann’s world in the most naturally conversational way. In the variation-form Andante the Engegård find a simple songfulness in its main theme, whereas the Doric and the Elias bring to it greater emotional nuance. The flowing second variation doesn’t have the degree of finesse of the Doric, while the chordal writing of the Molto più lento that follows is again more cleanly dispatched by the British group. The Scherzo, a real technical minefield, is a tad rough around the edges too (again, listen to the Elias to hear how energy and finesse can coexist perfectly naturally), though happily the finale comes off better. But, overall, this new disc doesn’t alter the discographical status quo.