Another C major Quintet – following on from the Pavel Haas Quartet (with cellist Danjulo Ishizaka), whose interpretation I have been enjoying immensely for the past few months. I did wonder whether the overt emotionalism of that reading would pall, but not one bit of it – their confidence to make the music their own remains absolutely compelling.

The Diotima are particularly celebrated for their interpretations of contemporary repertoire and, joined by celebrated cellist Anne Gastinel, they make a strong and assured fivesome, with none of the sense of four-plus-one that afflicted the recent Takács reading with Ralph Kirshbaum. Like the Pavel Haas, there’s plenty of energised, highly reactive playing on display, not least in the delightfully mellifluous duetting of the two cellos in the second theme of the opening movement. However, it’s the Pavel Haas who convey more tellingly the ambiguity of mood at the end of the same movement, the final chord shot through with more than a hint of the darkness of what is to come.

What follows is the heart of the work, the aching, extended slow movement, and it’s here that I have reservations about the new version. The Pavel Haas weren’t exactly fast but they justified their steady tempo with a reading of great depth and detail. But no amount of beauty of tone (and there’s plenty) from the Diotima and Gastinel can make up for the sense that it’s just too slow. Perhaps this could work in the concert hall but on disc it simply sounds indulgent, and fissures soon appear in the structure. Even though they judge well the central cataclysmic outpouring, and the Scherzo that follows, this remains a serious hindrance to wholehearted recommendation. And in the finale the Viennese-tinged second idea also slows a little too much, though their build-up to the end of the work is full of panache. So, a mixed experience and not a reading to rival the Pavel Haas/Ishizaka in my affections.