High hopes always accompany the appearance of new recordings from these artists: high hopes that, on this occasion, are not entirely fulfilled. The Jerusalems and Melnikov build a beguiling sense of anticipation in the slow introduction to the Piano Quartet but, at the outbreak of the Allegro ma non troppo, something close to pedestrianism creeps in. It’s not that the notes aren’t under the fingers or that Schumann’s ingenious webs of motifs aren’t finely delineated. But turn to Martha Argerich and friends’ live Lugano version from 2006 to hear this music played with several degrees more personality and vim. The same goes for the Scherzo: the atmosphere here is one of foreboding, as against Argerich’s fairy-light, Mendelssohnian skittering. The balance disfavours the cello (Kyril Zlotnikov), so his arching phrases in the Andante cantabile count for less than they might. The finale, in contrast, is a success and in parts even gives that Lugano performance a run for its money.

Balance issues are solved in the Piano Quintet, so the violin/cello question-and-answer of the first movement’s second subject (from 1'03") is undeniably effective. But what puts the spanner in the works of this performance is an all-too-literal approach to the quicksilver changes of character in the later movements. Turn again to Argerich et al, in Lugano in 2002, and hear this work not so much played as acted, phrase by phrase, note by note – truly sonata form as drama. At that moment (5'06" in the new recording) where all comes to a standstill before the coda brings together the themes of both outer movements in one of Schumann’s most magical contrapuntal inspirations, Argerich (with pairs of Capuçons and Schwarzbergs) makes the face prickle with a breathtaking sense, paradoxically, of inevitability and revelation. Melnikov and the Jerusalem Quartet simply don’t.