Following their splendid collaboration in the Mozart quartets (Hyperion, 10/3), Paul Lewis and the Leopold Trio (with Graham Mitchell) are equally impressive in the Trout. They’re beautifully recorded, with excellent balance and a warm, intimate sound. High spirits and poetry are given equal attention – the opening is taken a shade slower than the main body of the first movement, but this and other modifications of the pulse are made very subtly, so as to be barely noticeable. Each ‘Trout’ variation is strongly characterised – if the theme seems a little lethargic, the first three variations, each more animated than the last, put this into perspective.

This issue comes into direct competition with the fine 1998 recording by Christian Zacharias and members of the Leipzig Quartet, which also couples the Quintet with the D581 Trio (MDG, 3/99). The Leopold’s delightful performance of the D471 trio movement is a substantial bonus (the Leipzig offer only the tiny fragment, D111a). MDG’s recording is brighter and more open, and the playing more forceful and impulsive, giving the Quintet’s finale an energy that is not quite matched by Lewis and the Leopold. But Lewis and Co give an inspiriting lift to the Allegretto at the end of the variations, where the Zacharias/Leipzig performance sounds distinctly po-faced.

Both groups are very good in the lovely D581 Trio. I marginally prefer the Leipzig – the Andante, a romantic take on Haydn, has an ideal sense of poise and elegance. But there’s no clear winner – and the new recording certainly won’t disappoint.