The surface finish of these performances by the Van Kuijk Quartet is astonishing, and particularly so given the quartet formed as recently as 2012. Their unanimity, tonal blend and intonation are close to flawless, and they play with a fearlessness that can sometimes come across as audacity. Try the finale of D87, from Schubert’s 16th year, which the Van Kuijk take at a tear, the second violin and viola buzzing giddily through reams of accompanimental semiquavers. It’s a breakneck pace compared with, say, the Mosaïques’ Gemütlichkeit, but then the Van Kuijk relax into the second theme at 0'52" and leader Nicolas Van Kuijk gives the melody such a charming hauteur that I was completely won over.

The slow movement of Death and the Maiden is more impressive still. There’s the evocatively wheezy organ-like tone at the start, François Robin’s affectionate shaping of the cello line in the second variation (graced by Van Kuijk’s delicate tracery), the suppleness with which they all mould the obsessive figuration in the third, and the expressive impact of the tiny ornaments in the fourth when played in such a wistful, sing-song manner (Van Kuijk, again).

I am troubled by some details, however. The most glaring is the quartet’s occasional disregard for dynamic markings and gradations. This is evident right from the beginning of D87, which Schubert marks pianissimo but which is played closer to mezzo-forte. More damaging is their mitigating the crucial contrast between fortissimo and pianissimo in the opening of Death and the Maiden. They also have a tendency to pounce on a sudden forte, holding back before they leap, as at 1'05" in the first movement of D87 and repeatedly throughout D810, to the point that it becomes a distracting affectation.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the Quatuor Van Kuijk are a brilliant young ensemble of enormous promise but I can’t recommend their account of D87 over the Mosaïques – not to mention the Calvet, whose 1937 recording (Telefunken Legacy) remains unsurpassed – and if one wants a comparably incisive interpretation of D810, the Ehnes Quartet are less fussy and far more attentive to the composer’s markings.