Coupling these quartets seems to be in vogue: this disc follows on from that by the Hagen Quartet (DG, 8/06), and the St Lawrence leave little doubt as to their identity with this music. Like the Hagen, they emphasise Bartókian incisiveness in the Third Quartet, but the opening Allegretto suffers from the omission of its exposition repeat. The Intermezzo finely balances anxiety and pathos, but the Scherzo is dispatched at too headlong a tempo, while expression in the Adagio is impeded by rhythmic inflexibility. Nor is enough contrast made between themes in the finale – its searing climax insufficiently prepared and the exhausted calm of its coda less than inevitable.

The St Lawrence are more fully attuned to the elusive Seventh Quartet – distilling greater emotional intimacy than the Hagen from the Lento, and making the most of the climactic transition between each half of the finale. Their Eighth Quartet is best in the fourth movement, where quotations actual and implied coalesce in a threnody of real expressive power. The preceding Allegro and Allegretto are respectively rushed and over-wrought, while the introspective outer movements are a shade neutral. Overall, the Hagen find greater coherence, and the Sorrel Quartet (Chandos, A/01) remain the most perceptive recent interpretation. Recorded sound is well balanced, albeit with a tendency to coarsen in climaxes.