The Emerson Quartet mark their debut on Pentatone after a long association with DG with the three quartets of Schumann. There’s a moving introduction by leader Eugene Drucker talking about music and musicians in lockdown (the recordings were made in 2018 and 2019) and drawing parallels between the fragility of the situation and Schumann’s extremes of mood.

The Emerson’s playing is on a predictably high level, technically speaking, and the quartet’s sheer panache in the faster movements is often impressive. They take the finale of the Second Quartet at a truly Allegro molto vivace and the almost inhuman demands of the Più mosso section hold no fears for them. Their blend of sound is impressive in the Scherzo second movement of the Third, as is their clarity of narrative through the contrasting sections right up to the final Tempo risoluto. In the last movement of the same quartet there’s an abundance of energy and absolute precision to the unison dotted rhythm of the main rondo theme. Interestingly, they’re even faster in their 1984 recording of No 3 (the only Schumann quartet they’ve previously recorded, featuring cellist David Finckel), though still recognisable as the same group in their approach.

However, this music is about so much more, and too often they seem to miss the mark. In the opening movement of the First Quartet, for instance, they apply portamentos freely in the Andante espressivo introduction; but how much more vividly and subtly the Zehetmair convey its tortured quality, carrying that through to the following Allegro as if not quite trusting its apparent good humour, whereas the Emerson are all bustling efficiency. The fragility at the end of the first movement is also in short supply on this new recording. The same quartet’s Scherzo is somewhat motoric in effect – not just a matter of speed but of articulation and textural balance too. Again, the Zehetmair make much more of it, with subtler accentuation and a fleet speed, while their Intermezzo has a greater flexibility than in the Emerson’s account. The opening of the Second Quartet is short on geniality too, with the Emerson a world away from the warmth of the Elias, who illuminate it with a most natural conversational quality. For the theme of the variation-form second movement the Emerson are slightly faster-paced than the Elias or the Doric and if it’s plain-speaking you’re after, you may warm to them more than I did. But for me, this is a disappointment.